and the united states' senate, there are two senators from california, and there are two senators from wyoming. so this is a tremendous disparity of -- in population. half of the population in the united states lives in ten states. they have 20 senators. the other half of the population lives in 40 states, and they have 80 senators. so a majority of the senators actually represent a very small minority of the population in the united states. so by definition, the u.s. senate has never been a majorititarian body. it operates differently from the -- from the house of representatives, and part of that is that the size of the two bodies require different things. the constitution is a very thin document. my students used to complain, because the first week i was teaching, i would always make my class read the entire text of the constitution. and they would complain bitterly. and i would say, you're lucky we're not studying any one of the states, because all of the state constitutions are huge documents. they tell you how tall a curb has to be. they're very much detail-oriented. the u.s. con

madam chair on behalf of senator casey and senator gillibrand, concurring that we will work with senator chambliss and senator johns and usda. this is important, i want to emphasize how important it is the secretary have this authority to deal with natural disasters as kirsten said, but also to deal just with the persistent problems of hunger in our communities, and we will work on something as quickly as we can and hope to get an answer -- >> madam secretary, may we just delay the consideration of this amendment until the end of our considerations today to give the usda and secretary personally the opportunity to assess this and decide what he'd like? because if -- >> if there's no objection, we can certainly -- >> provide clarity from the secretary. >> is there any objection to coming back to this at some later point? if not, then we will do that. we will hold it, and if you find there's a way to come together, we can come back to a later point and proceed. certainly share the concern -- addressed by this and like to see it resolved. >> if we can't come to an agreement during the cours

senate archivist karen paul advises every senators' staff and is a great missionary, because some senators don't give us any thoughts until they retire, which is not a good idea. from the very first day a senator's a member, we begin the campaign to get them to think about preserving these papers. and it's not so much just a matter of vanity and ego, it's a matter of a senate office is the eye of the needle through which the concerns of that particular state flow, and sometimes it's the only place that you're going to find out the issues important to alaskans or missourians during a period of time. >> from what you know, which of the senators' historical materials have been put to the most use? >> well, certainly the papers of lyndon johnson, his senate years at the lbj library. the papers of john stennis, at mississippi state university. margaret chase smith up in maine. howard baker, bob dole have recently opened centers in their states and are gradually opening up their papers. >> if some young person came to you right now and said, okay, 34 years you were the senate historian, i want t

and aggressively by state senator senate. i'd be glad to take any questions i'd be glad to take any questions i'd be glad to take any questions are a match. questions from anyone? it think if you would go to the microphone or pass the microphone down it would be great. thank you. >> when did you actually started this project specifically about five years ago was it quite >> i start in the fall 2006. my first trip was in the fall of 2006 in which he was running unopposed. so that was -- you just show you how the political world shifted at this time he was running unopposed and was chairman of the senate foreign relations committee. there is a republican president. so one of the challenges of this book, the real challenges even though you're someone like senator lugar who has a pretty steady career, the political landscape around him has been shifting constantly and it's been trying to hit a moving target because while the senator's career has been pretty steady, the political circumstances surrounding them have changed strictl

senate historian after 34 years on the job. >> dick baker, when you had the reception in the senate for your good-bye as senate historian, what did they give you? >> they gave me a framed senate resolution that designated me forever and ever senate historian emeritus. so i did some research to find out since there has never been a senate historian emeritus, where is the office space, what about parking, what about an i.d. card. i'm still doing the research, but it was a great honor and i will cherish it to my dying day. >> yeah, but they gave you something else. >> they also agreed to open the senate chamber galleries during the time that the senate is not in session. that has always been the case for 142 years until 9/11, and as one of the unfortunate consequences, of the many unfortunate consequences of 9/11, the galleries were closed when the senate was not in session. so, i had a quiet campaign to try to get that reversed. followed the historical pattern. and so apparently what they did as a gift was to agree to open the galleries during the month of august, turns out the house

one of the great senators. the 60's and the 70's, the jury probe found moments in american history. coming back to what i remember is the question of the civil rights movement and the profound impact that have on this country but it wasn't only martin luther king jr., there was the black panthers, the assassination of the early 60's of president kennedy and what that meant to the country. clearly the war in vietnam profoundly impacted the whole nation dividing us and so forth. the rapid speed by which president johnson of the society and the impact that had. the cultural movement, woodstock and women's movement, the environmental movement, etc., etc.. talk for a moment about the great senate in your words and all of these profound movements and events taking place in american history at that moment at the time. >> guest: i think the connection is that historically the senate had been a disappointment that countries should be moving forward. robert carow and william wright have written and described the senate a

senator graham is running late. senator leahy is out of the senate this morning. but was kind enough to allow me to convene this hearing. and i'm sure will add a statement to the record. i'm going to open the floor to senator graham when he does arrive. but, for the time being, because we have many colleagues here who have busy schedules of their own i want to turn to the first panel of witnesses. at the outset i do want to note that i invited the department of justice to participate in today's hearing but they declined. we're honored to be joined today by our colleagues from senate and the house. in keeping with the practice of the committee, first we'll hear from members of the senate, then members of the house, practice which i loathe in the house, but now that we're running the show, i'm afraid you're just going to have to live with it, my house colleagues. each witness will have three minutes for an opening statement. complete written statement will be into the record. first witness, senator cardin, sponsor of s-1670, the end racial profiling act which i'm pr

senator brown. >> aye. >> senator casey. >> aye by proxy. >> senator klobuchar. >> aye. >> senator bennett. >> aye. >> senator gillibrand. >> no. >> chairwoman stabenow. >> aye. >> the total tally of senators present is 12 ayes, four nos. >> a majority of the committee being present and having voted in the affirmative, the committee print is ordered and reported to the senate as amended. i want to -- >> madam chair? >> -- without objection, let me just say the committee counsel is authorized to make technical and conforming changes consistent with the actions of the committee. and i want to thank everyone again for perfect work. >> madam chair? >> yes. >> i think there were five nos. >> yes. >> would the clerk repeat the final tally? >> sure. the total tally -- >> four present. one by proxy. >> i'm sorry. thank you, madam chair. >> let me just say in conclusion, again, this is a very historic day to have not only the major reforms we have but over $23 billion in deficit reduction. i don't know another committee that's worked together in a bipartisan basis to provide something that works fo

thank you. >> thank you, senator. >> thank you, senator lee. senator franken? >> thank you, mr. chairman. madame secretary, this week the house of representatives is considering several cyber security proposals but this morning i want to talk about with you about the cyber security proposals that are here in the senate. because while there's ban lot of talk about privacy and civil liberties implications of the house proposals and, rightly so, fewer people are talking about the two bills here in the senate. the fact is that they are, as they are currently drafted, both of the cyber security proposals here in the senate present very serious threats to our privacy and civil liberties. both bills allow companies the near unfettered ability to monitor e-mails and files of their customers. both bills may allow companies to share that information directly with the military. both bills generally allow the federal government to freely share that information with law enforcement and both bills immunize companies against grossly negligent and knowing violations of the few privacy protectio

senator biden, then senator, put it together in 1992. senator boxer carried it when she was elected to the senate. they asked me to carry it and we got it passed. it's changed the world. vawa has changed the world. it used to be before vawa, a woman would show up bloodied and bruised at a police station and the police officer, who had no training and no knowledge of what to do -- not his or her fault -- would say go home, it's a family matter. and now, of course, we have laws, we have training, we have shelters and women are far more protected. we were much too close in 1994 to the old rule of thumb that a husband could beat his wife with a stick provided it was no thicker than his thumb. we're much further away from that because of this law. and it makes a great deal of sense. but, like any good and important law that's changed the world, we have to keep updating it, we have to keep learning from what has happened and make it better and stronger and tougher and covering more ground. we need it. still, despite vawa's good acts, in my hom

this bill that senator collins and i along with senator carper and senator scott brown offered to our colleagues offers a sensible but tough way forward to preserve the u.s. postal service but to acknowledge that it's got to change to stay alive forever, but certainly through the 21st century because of the impact of e-mail that has taken and dropped the volume of mail in the last five years by more than 20%. when you lose that kind of revenue, you've got to find ways to economize and you've got to find a different kind of business model, including different ways to raise revenue, all of which is authorized in this bill. i know some people think our bill doesn't do enough. they're ready to basically close down a lot of the postal service as we know it. some people think our bill does too much. we naturally think we struck a sweet spot or a point of common ground. in fact, the postal service has told us that they believe that if our bill is enacted, that it would save somewhere, after it's fully implemented over the next two to three years, save somewhere between $15 billion and $20 bi

this woman senator lugar. so john. >> ryan, thank you for that kind introduction and a little trip down memory lane. the one part of the story brain didn't mention this when i boarded out of going to albania brain kicked me ferociously under the table and i guess i've been recognized it wasn't the smartest thing to be saying to strangers. so thank you so much for cohosting this event might also like to thank kathleen angelo from book one of the bookstore here in town who is cohosting. i very much appreciate that. i'd also like to thank marche data center here at vienna landmarks for allowing us to use this incredible facility. it's really beautiful. and i'd like to think rebecca: and maybe clark and her colleagues from iu press come indiana university press been wonderful to work with in the project. it's been a pleasure to work with them. but i'm here to talk about tonight is this book, which brian mentioned called "richard g. lugar, statesman of the senate." i have to mention when i talk to people in on the

senate? in the last congress, the house of representatives passed some 400 bills that did not pass the united states senate. so the u.s. senate is a extremely powerful body. and it's -- it's unique in the world, as a result. so i think it would be fair to ask of at this point, what did the founders of the republic expect the senate to be? and would they recognize the modern u.s. senate? to answer this question, we have to go back to the source, which is the constitutional convention. there was a huge debate between the states, the large states and the small states, james madison, who was the principal author of the first draft of the constitution, came from virginia, which was a large state, the largest in terms of population. he thought it only right that both houses of the new congress should be apportioneded according to population. the small states said absolutely not. they wouldn't join any union in which they were not equal. they came to this impasse. fortunately, it was the 4th of july

senator roberts, and then i'll refer to senator chambliss. i know, for a second degree. >> madam chairwoman i relucta reluctantly oppose this amendment. it would provide mandatory funding to several of the energy title programs as the senate outlined. it would also create a new program, the rural energy savings program. and i know that several members and senators noted a majority support these programs, but i have very strong reservations about providing mandatory funding in this title, and the creation of a new program. throughout the process we have tried to be, or we have made every effort to be focus and finding a path to reduce federal spending, streamline programs and address areas of duplication. i respectfully suggest that this proposed amendment misses that mark. y will vote against the amendment and urge my colleagues to do the same. >> senator chambliss? >> thanks, madam chair, and i had a second-degree amendment that i need to make sure whether i need introduce it or not. let me ask a question to senator conrad. as i understand i

and senator lieberman and senator carper and senator collins and senator brown have worked very hard many others have worked very hard because if the postal service goes under or is dismembered, we are talking about 8 million jobs in this country small business people who are dependent on a strong postal service. postmaster general originally was talking about shutting down 3,700 rural post offices in every state in this country and i hope that members understand that a post office in a rural town is more than just a post office. that post office disappears, in many cases that town disappears. postmaster general was talking about significantly slowing mail delivery standards shutting down half of the processing plants in this country. and over a short period of time eliminating 200,000 jobs in this country over a short period of time. so i would hope that we could proceed have a serious debate on these issues hear all of the amendments, but at the end of the day i would hope that we would go forward and save the united states postal service. mr. corker: mr. president? mr. president?

lieberman, senator collins, senator franken. broadly defined human contracting means forced labor and other coercive labor that contribute to trafficking. requiring workers to leave their home countries based on fraudulent promises, confiscating passports, charging workers recruitment fees that consume more than a month's salary and many other forms of abuse that were mentioned in the commission's report. we should be clear that the overwhelming majority of u.s. contractors and subcreditors are law-abiding and reputable. and they are doing a good job in a difficult situation. they've made it a priority to ensure abusive labor practices play no role in this challenging work they are doing in iraq and afghanistan. our proposal is designed to show the best practices adopted by those contractors become standard practice for all contractors. and they include requiring contractors to have compliance plan in place, reporting and monitoring requirements to ensure credible evidence immediately triggers an investigation and giving contrac

senator coats, senator gregg, senator sessions and i have talked about this. we have an understanding of what needs to be done. you have to go in there and choice out a huge array of those loopholes, use those same dollars to hold down rates for everybody and keep progressivity. when we did this in 1986, we created according to the bureau of labor statistics 6.3 million new jobs within two years. and i'm not going to say, mr. chairman and colleagues, that every one of those jobs came about through tax reform. but it certainly didn't hurt in terms of setting the climate for growth. and now since 1986 we've had a host of commissions that have essentially said the same thing. the commission that was put together by george w. bush essentially proposed a updated version of what was done in 1986, the volcker commission proposed the same thing, bowles-simpson. we all sat in this room and i was, frankly, thrilled when erskine bowles said we pretty much looked at what senator gregg and i had been talking about, and we know what needs to be done, the question is whether

as i listened to senator feinstein, senator murray, senator shaheen, senator gillibrand, after i spoke with senator hagan last week about the pending motion to proceed to the vawa reauthorization legislation, i thought how fortunate we all are to serve with them. i remember when nine women senators joined together to contribute to the book "nine and counting" about their paths to the united states senate. these women have served as role models for many other young women and young girls. even as senator clinton has gone on to become our secretary of state and there have been other changes, six of the nine senators who were subjects of the book in 2001 still serve with us today. they've been joined by nine additional women senators from around the country. you know, this book "nine and counting" is kind of a title looking to the future. today, 17 women serve in the united states senate and that is a great step forward. we have further to go, of course. it's a lot better when i came to the senate. we had no women serving. 16 of them have joined from both sides of the aisle to bring their

both senator toomey and paul have introduced their own budget proposals in the senate. we also have the president who followed a law and submitted a budget, but i would note as the senator already has, it did not receive a single vote in the senate last year, nor did the president's budget receive a single vote from a democrat or a republican in the house of representatives this year. i think we have a good idea why no member of the house supported the president's budget. we know from the nonpartisan congressional budget office that the president's budget increases spending every year in the budget window. we know the president's budget would add $10 trillion to the debt. this further weakens our fiscal house and now, of course, every man, woman and child in america owes at least $50,000 in national debt. we also know that the president wants to raise taxes on the american people. of course his budget includes $2 trillion in higher taxes. finally we know the president's budget does not make a serious attempt to strengthen programs like medicare and social security, whic

senate. i don't know if you had a chance see it, but when they replay it, please watch it. it is so edifying to see the appreciation expressed by her colleagues in the u.s. senate. every time somebody said something, i would think, that is just what i would have said, and i am sure you would say the same thing. so here we are gathered during women's history month. how better to observe it and to honor senator mikulski. and i want to acknowledge the presence of some great women leaders in our country. three members of the president's cabinet, secretary kathleen sebelius -- where are you kathleen? [applause] secretary janet napolitano -- [applause] administrator lisa jackson. [applause] we are also very hored by a woman so spectacular, a woman that a room in the capital is named for our -- former congresswoman lindy boggs. [applause] i should say ambassador, because just the other day, earlier this month, sheelebrated her 96th birthday. [applause] and this is a day of firsts. i want you to ackn

senator feinstein and then -- senator feinstein. >> thank you very much. madam secretary i am one that thinks you are doing a very good job in an agency that is perhaps too large. i think it's 22 departments and over a couple hundred thousand people. it's a very big job i wanted to concentrate my questioning on three areas. the first is the student visa and fraud and earlier i joined in a letter with senator schumer on this program, and i am concerned that i.c.e. is not adequately certifying each educational institution a sham school, certified for 30 students, bringing 1555 students in, making $4 million. the head is now being prosecuted. to make a long story short, the united states immigration and customs enforcement known around here as i.c.e., wrote an interesting letter on may 3, 2011 saying this. the students do not have the statutory authority to close noncompliant schools immediatele the authority to restrict dso access and it goes on to say they have done a risk analysis of the 6487 mp vp certified schools with active records and they have school

signed by 18 senators.the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is: is it the sense of the senate that debate on the motion to proceed to senate 2230, a bill to reduce the deficit by imposing a minimum effective tax rate for high-income taxpayers, shall be brought to a close? the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: any other senators wishing to vote or change their vote? on this vote, the yeas are 51 and the nays are 45. three-fifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted in the affirmative, the motion is not agreed to. mr. whitehouse: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, let me ask unanimous consent, if i may, for the senate to proceed to a period of morning business with senator permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wh

the same with the senator from kansas. i'm not sure if i was surprised or not surprised how hard you worked to make all this happen. basically not surprised because you know the subject so well and got a good sense of humor. you try to do what's right while you're protecting kansas and thinking about the country. but, senator, i want to tell you how much i appreciate your work here, too. there are many others here in the committee, many meetings with the senator from georgia trying to work out the cotton issues, stacks and everything else, and especially inspector wto. and i echo the comments made by the chairman. got to keep working together so we can find a way to make that work. it makes sense. and i also want to just thank the senator of north dakota. now that we're thanking everybody here, i especially want to thank him. he gave a great statement, a statement i wanted to associate myself with, pointing out a lot of the myths in the country about agriculture. one of the myths being we're giving all this money to farmer

senator cardin followed by senator johanns. senator baucus. each will have seven minutes. >> thank you very much for holding this hearing. i thank the ranking member. this is very important. we all were shocked by the inspector general's report revealing the shocking and shameful extravagant spending that the gsa western regional service division engaged in in 2010. i think it's important to understand that this event is indicative of a culture of this agency that goes back many years. the inspector general miller and the deputy administrator that brought this problem to his attention should be commended for investigating this event, bringing this problem into the public eye, and calling for reforms within the agency. what's most important now is that congress work with the agency to advance smart and thoughtful reforms. the fact is, gsa is vitally important to the function of the federal government. gsa makes sure that federal government pays its rent on time, keeps the lights on in public buildings, manages federal priorities, makes sure fed

. >> thank you, senator inhofe. senator nelson? >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank to both of you for your service and for your kind remarks this morning. i appreciate that very much. general kehler and general alexander, the comments today and all of the discussion for some period of time has indicated the growing threat of cyber warfare to the threat to the united states national security. as we engage in this discussion, there is an ongoing restructuring of stratcom's headquarters with the new headquarters. general kehler, can you give us some indication why an aging facility would not be an appropriate facility as we take on new responsibilities but particularly as it relates to the high-tech cyber situation? general alexander, if you had some thoughts about that, it would be helpful, too. thank you. >> sir, the activities that go on at stratcom are unique activities. we perform those activities, particularly the command and control that we have of our strategic forces, the planning that we do for our strategic forces, the intelligence support that's requi

senator marco rubio is a member of the senate foreign relations committee. he is a member of the select committee on intelligence, and he has already established himself as a vigorous advocate of intense and widespread u.s. engagement and leadership in the world. she an nattiest. he is an international issist. he will be trued by joe lieberman who is a long-standing friend of this institution and i might add a very good friend for quite a number of us here today. and, joe, we're going to miss you when you leave the senate, but i have no doubt that you will remain a forceful voice in the national and the international arena. when senator rubio finishes making his remarks, marvin kalb of our foreign policy program is going to moderate a discussion here on the podium, and then engage as many members of the audience as he can for the remainder of the program. so, joe, over to you. >> thank you. thank you very much. thanks, strobe talbott, thanks to brookings and a special thank you to bob kagan for orchestrating and inspiring this event today. i am really honore

i know senator lieberman, senator brown, senator collins have no interest in doing that. this is the time to fix the problem, to fix the problem. i'd like to think we are smart enough here in the senate to fix this problem. i'd like to think we are smart enough in the senate to work with the house, our staffs, we have a lot of good people, the folks at the postal service, the folks who work there, the unions, their customers, and a lot of people are in businesses all over the country. together working on this, i think are smart enough to figure out how to solve this. we need to do that. last thought. during the recess, i mentioned to my colleagues, the presiding officer, to senator lieberman during our caucus lunch today. i don't know what you guys and gals did over the easter recess. i basically just covered delaware like a glove. i love to do it. i go back every night anyway. it's great joy. you know what i mean, to kind of reconnect with everybody. i also spent some time on the phone and meeting with folks who are in businesses in delaware and outside of delaware who u

chairman. >> thank you, senator mccain. senator lieberman? >> thanks, mr. chairman. thanks to both of you. my friend from arizona. i have a disagreement. i want to come to the defense of the department of homeland security. the fact is that we haven't had a major terrorist attack on the u.s. since 9/11 and you have to give the leadership, bipartisan, over two administrations, and the thousands of people who work at dhs, some credit for that. secondly, in terms of the stove piping, i think a better analogy here, and it's not a perfect one, it's to compare the relationship between the cia and the fbi to the relationship between cyber command, nsa and dhs. cia has authority outside of the united states of america. the fbi has authority -- this is -- speaking about terrorism, for instance or threats to the nation -- fbi has authority within the country. the problem before 9/11 is there weren't stove piped. they weren't cooperating enough. in the same way nsa cybercommand, as you said, has the responsibility to protect america. it's a jewel. it's a national treasurer from

in the senate. now, some of the earmarks that again appeared in prior years that we think could violate the moratorium include $35 million for the national energy technology laboratory, $10 million for the chicago sanitary and ship dispersal barrier, $8.9 million for san joaquin river restoration, and $3 million for aquatic plant control. one-run of the longest-running earmarks which this year received $5.9 million, is the east-west center in hawaii. the senator has received ten earmarks worth $103.8 million since 2001 -- i'm sorry. since 1997. it's been around longer. al added by senate appropriations committee chairman daniel inouye. and the senator admitted in 2007 that the project was committed over the objections of the state department and without any hearings. a similar group, the north-south center, stopped receiving earmarks in 2001. there is that doubt that funding for the east-west center also would have gone south were it not located in the state of the senate appropriations committee ch

time to the senator from minnesota, senator klobuchar. mr. menendez: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: first of all, i want to salute the distinguished chairman of the judiciary committee for the incredible work that he has done to bring us to this moment. i held a round table in new jersey with about 35 organizations who deal with the challenge of violence against women, and they unequivocally expressed their support for what we are doing here today and the importance in the lives of women that they deal with every day. and i know that my friends on the other side of the aisle are trying to strip provisions that protect women from discrimination and abuse in certain categories. and in my view, violence against any woman is still violence. the nation has been outraged about violence against women for almost two decades. we've seen the violence. we've continued to fight against it. we have tried to end it. in my mind, there is no doubt that i would find it very hard to understand why anyone

it seems to me that -- senator conrad and senator portman will correct me if i'm wrong. the only times we've been in rough budget balance in the last 70 years has been when revenues and spending have been between 19% and 21%. somewhere in that range. doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out you've got to cut spending and generate additional revenues. i hope as we go forward on this discussion the three things that i would hope that we would work on beyond kind of moving off this frame and updating it, one would be, and i would give enormous, enormous credit to senator crapo and senator coburn on this, is that if we were able to put together a long-term plan, you got to have a real enforcement mechanism. so if the economy recovers both on the spending side and on the revenue side, there's no way to, you know, wave those budget points of orders or slip in things late at night. and i would argue for -- or offer for the committee's consideration the very, very good work that with the assistance senator conrad put in on as tight of straight jacket as you can imagine on m

so senator roberts and senator conrad? >> well, let me just say that i really like going back to the simplicity of using the five-year olympic average price for both the individual and the county level. i am very encouraged. i think that this amendment will allow payment rates from both the individual and the county coverage, i do also appreciate the chance to work with you, senator baucus, and conrad, and senator hoven as well who played a very important role. ike and joel and tara have been nominated for bronze stars. the purple heart. >> that's right. >> and i thank think jonathan and jill, silver stars. i guess that's just the minority, i don't know. what the senator inkaindicate t montana. these people have been going days, weeks in a row with very little sleep and with many changes we've made, because members make changes, and many times they are necessary, and sometimes they are not. but they stayed with it, and they have worked overtime to a degree that has been amazing. i don't think many members really understand

do we have any amendments from the senators? senator bennett? >> i would like to call up ben it amendment number one. before i discuss this amendment, i just want to say i think you and the raking member have done terrific work on this title. it's been a great privilege to work with you on it. i thank you for accepting two of the aems that i filed to the conservation title. and bennett number four increasing funding for the voluntary public access program. it helps provide funding for our sportsmen and women. so thank you for working with me to accept these important amendments. to the amendment that's before the committee now would address an issue particular to the west. i want to thank my fellow committee senator boozman for joining me. i've heard from groups who have concerns over the current financing requirements for some important conservation easements. namely the scenario with a landowner wants to voluntarily donate and i underscore voluntarily donate part of the development value of their land to help finance an easement, but the law l

senator ron johnson is here. coming up, what in the world is the u.n. up to? tonight the big question is the u.n. violating its own sanctions in north korea? making shady deals with north korea government and not telling us? is there danger involved? ambassador john bolton goes on the record. and vice president candidate sarah palin take on a former rival. but probably not who you think. who is it? >> greta: dnc chair debbie waserman schultz calling ryan's plan republican path to poverty to pass like a tornado through nursing homes. she joins us. good evening. >> good evening. great to be with you. >> greta: nice to have you. explain this to me. president proposed budget, paul ryan proposes a budget. i understand you don't like it. i don't know if it's good, bad or indifferent. the senate has not proposed a budget. we have to wait for the senate to propose a budget to have a reconciliation between house and senate to get a budget. is that sort of how the process works? >> normally a budget by the president, budge

we have to wait for the senate to propose a budget to have a reconciliation between house and senateget a budget. is that sort of how the process works? >> normally a budget by the president, budget adopted by the house, adopted by the senate, but you know basically the budget process is expression of the party who drafted that budget's value and blueprint for how you are going to structure the nation's fiscal house. basically that's what it comes down to. >> greta: okay. so the house budget is republican. those are different values than your own. but that without the -- >> quite different. >> greta: quite different. i understand that. but without the senate having a budget it's sort of stops everything and the senate is currently run by, majority by the democratic party. they have 54 votes if you consider the 51 democrats, two independents who caucus with the democrats and of course they get the vice president. until the democrats -- until the senate has its budget it doesn't enable you to sit down and work your values out and talk and work out a solution for the rest of the country

senate. and i said, senator baker, but why? because the senat should be the seat of citizen of legislators. i tell that story because it had a great impact on me personally. but senator baker is the epitome of the citizen legislator. the public servant of a humble back ground coming back from tennessee. hearing the call in many different fields but going to japan as ambassador and coming back home on a trip envisioning the b.p.c. with senator daschle, with george mitchell, the embodiment of what makes this country great. thank you for the embodiment of what makes this country great. [applause] it is my honor to introduce my very close friend and confidant in many ways in the four years i served in the united states senator as majority leader, my closest friend, the longest serving senator in kentucky, the second kentuckian to lead his party in the united states senate my friend and your friend republican leader mitch mcconnell. [applause] >> good evening. and bob and howard what a wonderful h

grassley and senator cayo -- over to senator kyl max.senator grassley would've been next,, but we will go to senator schumer. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you in the senator grassley. this is an a first-time senator feinstein and i seem to have been thinking about exactly the same thing. then they quickly touch on this three things that were concerned to man student visas. it's not just a matter of sham schools, but also the failure of advice to follow up of students who have overstayed visas and the very poor record of schools providing information to i.c.e. second on the add workers, the rags could be reformed. it's not just a matter of our failure to pass legislation here. h. 2a were reformed at the end of the bush administration and they were more workable i am told. i was then changed with the obama administration. if we could work more towards the kind of breaks that existed towards the end of the bush administration that might be at least a hope for some. on the visa overstates and the exit system that's going to ask about th

senate leadership and you need senator harry reid to support senator conrad in bringing a budget tohe floor. we are already late. we should have done this april 1. we should pass a budget for april 15. the house has already done so. >> the house passed the ryan budget. it has been harshly criticized by the president and many others. would you be prepared to support that budget if it came to a vote in the senate? >> absolutely. i think most republicans in the senate would and we will probably try and force a vote on that and try -- >> it won't pass, though, will it? >> probably mott. that is a real shame because again you have to take a look at the overall problem here. ten years ago our federal government over the last ten years spent $28 trillion. the argument moving forward is the house budget would spent $40 trillion over the next ten years. president obama wants to spend $47 trillion. we are just trying to limit the rate of growth in government. >> what about that? >> what about it? >> it has been called a radical budget. social darwinism. goes to $40 trillion instead of 47. tha

chairman. >> thank you, senator sessions. senator blumenthal? >> thank you for your service and for your very steadfast and effective work on behalf of our national security and your words earlier on behalf of the secret service. i think all of us share your view that they do, to use your word, a marvelous job of protecting the president and many other law enforcement functions. i want to follow up on a line of questioning that senator graham began in terms of looking forward, the kinds of systems, maybe analogizing the secret service to the military that are used in that context. i wonder if you've given any thought to additional steps that can be taken to safeguard against but also monitor the kinds of abuses that obviously occurred or allegedly occurred here. >> we are intent, senator, on doing a thorough examination. how we do it now and what we need to do to improve, to make sure this never happens again. so all of those kinds of options are on the table. >> thank you. switching to a different subject, i was recently approached by a couple,

i wanted to say the comments of senator mikulski and senator hutchison. i think the -- died before he knew this was a faulty prosecution. that elevates this to a new height. so i think this investigation is really important, and i think that actions have to be taken, and i just wanted to express that. what -- i wanted to follow-up on senator brown's comment. it's my understanding that more -- there's more oil available in the united states than demand calls for. and as a matter of fact, surplus is being sold outside. this, i think, would bring to special attention the issue of speculation, and i hope the study that you're doing is going to take a good look at the financial marketplace with regard to its ability to impact price in this way. >> well, as i said, the oil and gas working group that we formed last year as part of the president's financial fraud enforcement task force has been meeting. it just happens that they are having a call today, meeting, either tomorrow or on, the full committee will be getting together to look at the full issues you've r

that's the way the senate used to be. that's the way the senate should be. incidentally, when dick and i started, we sat down about where those paintings are. we were that junior. your mark of who's an important dairy reform proposal i believe will help our producers and consumer consumers. this dairy reform proposal will help our producers and consumers get off the dangerous roller coaster of price swings. i think it's a key to our consideration in our farm bill. i know farmers in vermont are watching it closely as i am. i hope that we can find a bipartisan compromise that will create both a newmar engine protection program and allow our farmers to have a proactive effort in their farm programs. it will go a long way toward easing the volatility in our dairy markets with the dairy market stabilization program. just like corn, wheat and soybeans, sugar, cotton and many other problems in our country, dairy farmers work hard for a living, and none of us want to leave them out. you've made great improvements in rural development and conservation titles. i know

blumenthal, nor boxer, senator gillibrand, senator lautenberg, senator levin, senator menendez, senatorikulski, senator harry reid, senator stabenow and senator mark udall. i thank my cosponsors for joining me in this legislation. this legislation would make it clear that racial profiling will not be allowed in this country. racial profiling is un-american. it's against the values of our nation. it's contrary to the 14th amendment of the constitution which provides for equal protection under the law. it's counterproductive. it doesn't keep us safe. you're using valuable police resources in a way that is wasting those resources. it's sloppy police work. if you try to identify a problem by race rather than looking for good police work to identify the real perpetrator of a crime. it also creates a mistrust in the community that you're trying to protect. a community who you need to help you, cooperate with you as far as keeping a community safe. so for all those reasons, racial profiling should have no place in modern law enforcement. we need a national law. mr. president, i was impressed a