senator baker had to face senator byrd. he said, he went up to senator byrd the other day and said, i'm going to make a deal. i won't surprise you if you don't surprise me. byrd said let me think about that. at the end of the day, byrd came back and said, i agree. that was the working relationship. they did not blind side each other. that kind of cooperation helped make the senate work. even when they were fighting they did it i the rules and they respected each other as colleagues. >> donald richie, thank you very much. >> my pleasure. >> at about 20 minutes, we continue our look at the v

senate. the eminent american political historian, william leuchtenburg, has called "byrd's history" a magisterial enterprise "the most ambitious study of the u.s. senate in all of our history." "never before," he said, "has a distinguished member of the u.s. senate carried to completion a comprehensive history of the senate, drawing upon both his own insights and recollections and the most recent work of all scholars." not all of senator byrd's history lessons, of course, are contained in books. sometimes, they are offered in private conversations. i certainly, as senator lott has just noted, have benefited from many of senator byrd's tutorials over the years. his most powerful history lessons however, have been those delivered on the senate floor. we saw that again last week. these are painful days for the senate and for our entire nation, days of great potential consequence. our responsibility, as senator byrd reminded us in his typically eloquent and erudite remarks last week, is to put th

of the senate. there were chairmen of committees that would take care of things on the floor. there was a chairman of the party conference who would come out and open and close things the way they do today. it changed in 1913 when woodrow wilson was elected president. he had a phd in history and political science. he had written his doctoral dissertation about congress. he had strong ideas about how congress often operate and also had an ambitious legislative agenda. he prevailed on the democrats who had just come into the majority to pick one other senators to be the person who could take charge of things on the floor. instead of going to a senior senator as they would -- they went to a junior senator who was well known on the democratic ticket in 1908. he became the first majority leader of the senate. it functions just about the way that majority leader steve today. it started out by opening things up during the day in scheduling things in closing things down nine. when the republicans came into

senate. as you know, senator byrd's highest compliment to another senator, a compliment he awards most sparingly is to refer to that colleague as a senator's senator. in the 200-year history of this body, no one has deserved that more than tonight's speaker, the distinguished and legendary robert c. byrd. [ applause ] thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you, thank you. thank you very much. i am deeply grateful for the overly charitable and generous words from our leader. who initiated these -- this series of lectures. and i thank my leader on the democratic side. also more than kind. always overlooking my thoughts, words from my own leader, mr. daschle. i thank you for introducing my wife. she has put three children through school our two daughters and myself. they honor me by coming here tonight. i deeply appreciate it. [ applause ] and i could say something good. about any one of them. because i know that something good let me begin this evening with the look back ward in the well travel

senator kern became the first majority leader of the senate. the republicans came in to the majority in 1919 they decided this is a good idea. so they picked one of their senior senators to help carry on those functions. now, they didn't actually officially have the title majority leader. they had all sorts of other stuff -- conference chairman and things like that. not until 1925 that charles curtis of kansas is officially designated a majority leader. the fact of the matter is that both john wilkes kern and henry cab bought lodge functioned the way a majority leader would today. every since then, the majority leadership has grown considerably in power. although if you read the rules of the senate, you will see a lot of mention of the majority leader. a lot of it has evolved over time. lyndon johnson, the most powerful used to say the single greatest power is the power of persuasion. and howard baker used to chuckle and say the power to call bills off of the calendar is also significant. in 1937, there was the vice president of the united stat

the senate. and in fact, he holds the record in length of service as the republican leader. sometime in the minority, and sometime in the majority. but he was truly loved by his colleagues, i believe on both sides of the aisle. and on many occasions he express that love and received it from his colleagues on both sides of the political aisle in the senate. one of the great moments i will always remember in my experience in the senate was bob's last day in the senate. not because i would be successor, but because of what he had to say and the beauty and emotion of that moment and the outpouring of respect everybody in that chamber and in the gallery had for him. it was really a beautiful si ght. the love and appreciation for his leadership in the many legislative roles that tom expressed in his remarks will make that a memory in my mind as long as i surf your. -- serve here. but i do have one problem, bob. when you left, you did not leave the operator's manual to this place. you took it with you.

the senate's business. these, together with the reliability of his commitment and whatever power of personal persuasion one brings to the job, are all the tools a senate leader has. two -- have a genuine and decent respect for differing points of view. remember that every senator is an individual, with individual needs, ambitions and political conditions. none was sent here to march in lockstep with his or her colleagues and none will. but also remember that even members of the opposition party are susceptible to persuasion and redemption on a surprising number of issues. understanding these shifting sands is the beginning of wisdom for senate leaders. three -- consult as often as possible with as many senators as possible, on as many issues as possible. this consultation should encompass not only committee chairmen, but as many members of one's party conference as possible in matters of legislation and legislative scheduling. 4. remember that senators are people with families. schedule the senate as humane

, about the unique ways that senator baker led the senate. they remember his cool in his patients even under personal attack sometimes. their member how seemingly nonchalant he would let a policy battle raged for days on the senate floor with each senator exercising fully their right to debate. an end when the bosses calmed and tempers died down, there would be an informal gathering in his office. after a while, i'm told, the anxious staffers outside would hear laughter, probably the result of a nanny goat aptly -- anecdote aptly timed. one day last year, when one of my best friends -- they referred to me as having acquired baker-itis. the man for whom that condition was named called me to ask how i was feeling with my afflictions. i had just one question. is baker-itis fatal? insured me it was not, and apparently it was not. some of our speaker's most remarkable accomplishments came after he ended his congressional career. two come to mind tonight. the first is extraordinary service as chief of staff to president reagan. most senators would

senator baker had to face senator byrd. he said, he went up to senator byrd the other day and said, i'm going to make a deal. i won't surprise you if you don't surprise me. byrd said let me think about that. at the end of the day, byrd came back and said, i agree. that was the working relationship. they did not blind side each other. that kind of cooperation helped make the senate work. even when they were fighting they did it i the rules and they respected each other as colleagues. >> donald richie, thank you very much. >> my pleasure. >> at about 20 minutes, we continue our look at the visitor role of the senate majority leader with a lecture from robert byrd of virginia. first, the conversation from 2010 was senator mitch mcconnell, the incoming senate majority leader for the 114th congress, which convenes in january 6. he talks about the history and traditions of the united states senate. >> senator mcconnell, as you come to work each day, you look at this building, what does it represent to you? >> the history of the u

since i left the senate, there are 25 new senators. since senator thurmond came to this chamber, there are 303 senators who have come and gone. [laughter] and some are still here. [laughter] this is a great honor. i am pleased, of course, my wife elizabeth is here and my former chief of staff, sheila burke -- jo-anne coe, former secretary of the senate -- joyce mccluney, former deputy sergeant of arms -- my kansas delegation; and, of course, my good colleague, the most popular statesperson in kansas, nancy kassebaum baker. and the fellow she's with is howard baker. [laughter] and a lot of friends, as i say. in fact, one of our friends, larry harrison -- you may remember larry, he worked in the men's restroom area for years -- died just last night of cancer. trent mentioned coming home. there's an old saying that "home is where the heart is." even though i have been gone from this building for nearly 4 years -- i haven't been back but two or three times -- a part of my heart will always remain here. so, as the other speakers have been h

senator baker. we come this evening in this stately and formal old senate chamber, our convocation has the light spirit of a family reunion. it's a thrill to me to see the way our colleagues react to senator baker on both sides of the aisle. and even some that could not be here tonight made a special point of coming by to speak to senator baker. tonight we welcome a second in the series of leaders lecture series. we are hoping this will be something we can continue throughout this year with senator byrd being our invited speaker in september and in to next year. uh i this this is a part of our family and i'm delighted the american public is the joining us this evening through public television. they'll hear this outstanding gentleman who will give us a great deal of the wisdom and much wit. i hope they sense the enormous affection of our speaker tonight that's almost palpable in this room. i wish they could see the display of photographs in the corridor outside of this chamber for our speaker is as

senator kern became the first majority leader of the senate. he functioned just about the way the majority leader's do today. he started out by opening things up during the day, scheduling things, closing things down at night. when the republicans came in to the majority in 1919, they decided this is a good idea. so they picked one of their senior senators, henry cabot lodge, to help carry on those functions. now, they didn't actually officially have the title majority leader. they had all sorts of other titles, conference chairman and things like that. not until 1925 that charles curtis of kansas is officially designated a majority leader. the fact of the matter is that both john wilkes kern and henry cabot lodge functioned the way a majority leader would today. every since then, the majority leadership has grown considerably in power. although if you read the rules of the senate, you will see a lot of mention of the majority leader. a lot of it has evolved over time. some of their powers come from the presidents of the senate. lyndon johnson,

senate. >> this sunday on "q&a," author dick lar talks about the ground breaking 1915 film, "the birth of a nation," its depiction of former slaves after the war and the efforts of newspaper publisher william monroe trotter to prevent the movie's release. >> part two of the movie, which is after the war, reconstruction, is really the hart of the protest in the sense that this is where the blacks were just appalled by the portrayal of field slaves. and this is a scene showing what happens when you give former slaves, you know, the right to vote, the right to be elected, the right to govern. it's a scene in the south carolina legislature where their first and primary order of business is to pass a bill allowing for interracial marriage. because again in griffith's hands black men are solely interested in pursuing and having white wom. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> author dick lehr on the controversial story behind the birth of a nation, sunday night at 8 eastern and pacific on c-span's "q&a." >> c-span2 providing

senator baker had to face senator byrd. he said, he went up to senator byrd the other day and said, i'm going to make a deal. i won't surprise you if you don't surprise me. byrd said let me think about that. at the end of the day, byrd came back and said, i agree. that was the working relationship. th

senator king, the senator from new jersey, senator booker the senator from georgia, senator isakson and the senator from north carolina, senator burr, be able to engage in a colloquy on higher education for the next half-hour. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. alexander: thank you mr. president. and i -- i further ask mr. president, unanimous consent to use a piece of demonstrative evidence in my remarks. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. alexander: thank you mr. president. mr. president, the senator from colorado michael bennet, and i have been working for a year to make it easier for 20 million american families who fill out a -- the federal application form for grants and loans for colleges to make it easier for them to do that. and the piece of demonstrative evidence that senator bennet and i have been carrying out in tennessee and in colorado is in. this is the form that 20 million americans fill out. it is familiar to many families. it is 108 questions for those families and it's important to them because about half of the american families who have stu

senate. this is 20 minutes. >> donald ritchie thank you for being with those on american history tv. that's the majority leader is not imposition of the constitution but how do the job if all? >> we once had a former speaker of the house contact us and say why was the president pro tempore in the order of succession but not the majority leader? the speakers of the house seat majority of it as the equivalent. they are equivalent on the senate side. census.gov houses written into the constitution at the president pro tempore is but no mention of majority leader or minority leader is because the constitution did not insist that political parties. i think that that is probably going to happen but they did want to encourage political parties. so they make no provision for it and foremost of the history of the senate we had no majority leader from 1789 until 1913 there was no majority leader in the senate. there were chairmen of committees who would take care of things on the floor. there was a cha

senator warren, senator king, senator barrasso, obviously from different parts of the united states. i'm certainly going to count on senator warren's help in implementing if you recolor, market manipulation of authority, that continues to allow them to police markets with senator king on issues of biomass and keen interest in making sure we continue to have a leadership role in keeping energy prices down in his region of the world by looking at i/o mass alternatives. and i look forward to working with new members on your side, senators daines, cassidy gardner, and capito. i want to express my feelings of prayers and heartbroken sorrow to senator capito for the loss of her father. i know she could not be with us today. i so appreciate what you had to say about the energy agenda moving forward for the committee. we certainly will look forward as you said, there is a lot of what is in common between washington and alaska, everything from sustainable fisheries to the interests in the arctic, to our public lands, to hydropower. i actually think i read somewhere that your father was born i

again i want to thank senator schumer, senator reid, senator kirk and senator heller for their partnership in bringing the bill forward. thank you mr. chairman and i yield the floor. >> the senator from ohio. >> to speak on hr 36 the terrorism risk insurance program reauthorization i appreciate and enjoy the relationship that we have had over the last eight years as a joint the banking committee and he was already a relatively better member of the committee and very knowledgeable and very straightforward and fair and i appreciate his work especially in this legislation also. i support the authorization of the insurance program. i did not want it to expire. many of us on both sides of the aisle worked to try to get this reenacted in december. unfortunately because of the partisan gains in the house of representatives that didn't happen. that's why i voted for the reauthorization in the banking committee last year and they supported the bill in the full senate that passed in july as the senator said by the vote of 93-for. it made important reforms in order to gain bipartisan support but it's

the senate. and, of course, vice president bush was here. we look forward to hearing from other vice presidents and leaders of the senate in the months ahead. this has certainly been an enjoyable, i know, and worthwhile program. and we are delighted tonight to have our friend, our colleague and one of america's favorite sons back with us. before i officially turn the podium over to senator dole, let me call on my colleague, my good friend, senator daschle, to speak on behalf of bob's democrat friends over these many years. senator daschle. [applause] >> elizabeth on behalf of the , entire senate, we are so glad you are here. welcome to the united states senate. we are glad you are back. a couple years ago at the south dakota state fair, i saw a young man wearing a t-shirt that said: "play hard; play fair." you could use those same four words to describe our honoree tonight. when he announced he was leaving this institution, bob dole said he wanted to be judged as "just a man." i said at the time

senator baker was the -- became the republican leader when senator byrd became the democratic leader. they worked together. the panama canal together. it was only that partnership of what happened. had to face senator byrd. he knew so much about the rules. senator baker tells a story he went up to senator byrd the other day and said i'm going to make a deal. i won't surprise you if you don't surprise me. byrd said let me think about that. at the end of the day, byrd came back and said, i agree. that was the working relationship. they did not blind side each other. that cooperation helped to make the senate work even when they were disagreeing with each other, fighting each other, they did it by the rules and respected each other as colleagues. >> thank you very much. >> my pleasure. >> coming up in 20 minutes, we'll continue our look at the historical role of the senate majority leader with a lecture from former leader robert byrd from west virginia. first a conversation from 2010 with senator mitch mcconnell, the incoming senate majority leader for the 114th congress that convenes on

so said senator bill. george mitchell comes as close as ideal to the public servant as anyone as i know. we are not living in a fool's paradise. we will truly miss them. i will miss him so much, i don't want to talk about it. during his years here, senator mitchell displayed an extraordinary patience and stevie determination to get things done. he was and is judicial analytical, painstakingly intellectual, a man of great wisdom and of diplomatic skill. he loves the senate and the democratic process. his legislative achievements as majority leader were many. in 1990, following months of negotiations with the bush administration, he steered through the senate the landmark clean air act, he helped push through laws to voter broader -- brought in voter registration. to protect the basic rights of americans with disabilities and put 100,000 new police officers on our streets. and his final term as majority leader, he pushed through laws that enabled us to turn around the deficit, to get a budget in order, and s

senator danes. >> thank you, madam chair. congratulations and ranking member cantwell, and thank you for holding this hearing. there has been an lot said already about jobs, economic growth, the environmental soundness of the keystone pipeline, energy independence, but i want to share what it means for the state of montana. the keystone pipeline enters the state of montana, the first tone it enters, -- how it enters that town -- town it enters, morgan, montana, a small little town. montana is 49th or 48th in some surveys in per-capita income in our country. i'll tell you, as i travel around the state in my pickup, you see that not everybody has a fly rod in their hand or is on the ski hill. there's a lot of folks who are struggling month to month to make ends meet. senior citizens, hardworking montanans. what this means for montana, first of all, it's 100,000 barrels a day of montana and north dakota oil that enters that pipeline in a small town called baker, montana. it's not just about canadian oil coming to the u.s. it's a

senator cornyn, senator scott.enator ted cruz and i talked about this and believe we should be doing things. it's the idea time should come. newt gingrich, norcross. fiscal conservatives can change things. that's one of my things. >> i want to ask senator scott to come back and join us for the rest of the hour. i want to start the conversation with the three of us on whether or not you think america has the will to do that with all that we have seen dividing this country around the shooting deaths of eric garner and michael brown and all we saw come out of that and howdy vid divided the country was. we'll do that in a second when we ask senator scott to join us. glad you are with us. >> thank you. >>> we are talking about criminal justice reform. give me your best argument why you think the country is interested in advancing on criminal justice given the fallout we have across america. >> it's already being done. that's the exciting thing. you have states like georgia who have gun reforms over the last five years r

we fiend he need to recognize senator hurricane and senator heller -- senator kirk and heller senator reed, senator brown our new ranking member on the democrat side and many others who have helped to move this legislation forward. additionally i want to give thanks to former chairman of the banking committee chairman johnson and his staff who deserve a great amount of thanks as they have worked closely with us in moving this bill forward and my own staff on the republican side who have put in so much time and effort to make sure that we got this important legislation moved over the finish line. working together we developed a bill that was supported unanimously out of the banking committee in what was a very partisan environment that we can all recall from last congress. and we then approved it in the senate by a vote of 93-4. showing the broad bipartisan support that has been developed for this legislation. building on the senate's framework, the house passed that are own version of tria last congress by an overwhelming vote of 417-7. and yesterday in this new congress the house aga

senate. this is a congress that will deal with obamacare, the keystone pipeline, immigration reform, a host of international issues including syria, iraq isis russia north korea, and a whole lot more. here's a breakdown. republicans gained nine seats in the u.s. senate. they now hold a 54-46 majority in the senate. when you factor in the two independents who caucused with the democrats, that brings the democrats up to 46. senator mitch mcconnell is now the senate majority leader. here's the breakdown in the house of representatives. republicans hold a 246-188 majority after picking up a 13-seat net gain in the midterm elections in november. are the american people hopeful things will be different in this new u.s. congress? not really. in our brand-new cnn/orc poll look at this 37% of people polled say the congress will get more done. but here's the telling number. 47% of the people questioned think this congress will be just as ineffective as the last one. and, remember the last congress had

member of the senate than senator bennett. i think that was well earned over his career. so we're happy to have him here with us today as well. so our commission on political reform was really borne out of a stormy political presence i think you all have been watching over the last few years. polarizations at the highest level since its reconstruction. according to a poll that we commissioned with u.s.a. today. we don't mix with our neighbors who aren't -- if we're republicans we don't talk to the democrats in our neighborhood. we don't even live in neighborhoods, maybe even states with democrats. more and more we get our news from sources that are bias or they're ideologically driven. rankor and brinksmanship are at an obviously all-time high. if you don't see it on c-span, we certainly see it on the news networks. and that's really been on display in congress over the last two congresses we've probably had the least productive in the modern era. and not just unable to address pressing issues but unable to do their basic jobs

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new mexico is recognized. mr. udall: thank you mr. president. and let me just say to my cousin cousin, my heart goes out to you and my condolences are there on what you've talked about here today and really appreciate you coming down and talking so sincerely about things. at -- at another place in the record with consent to do that let me talk a little bit about -- the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: -- yeah, talk a little bit about this evening amendment number 77 that i've filed, mr. president. this is -- this is an amendment i've filed to the bill that is pending with us now on the -- what i would call the oil sands pipeline. and it's been called a jobs bill i know on the other side, but you know, the reality is there are good construction jobs here but as soon as the pipeline's built, the permanent jobs are really very small. and what we need to do, my belief in terms of energy, is work to wear there are largers numbers of jobs. -- larger numbers of jobs. and i don't know whether people know t

and lastly, let me thank senator mikulski and senator kirk and i join both of them in a senate resolution to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz and birkenau. the senate foreign relations committee that i serve on unanimously approved that resolution for consideration on the senate floor and i thank senator corker and menendez for their help. as i think most of the members of this body know, i've been an active participant in the helsinki commission. i'm the democratic leader working with senator wicker. the helsinki commission is known for our participation in the organization for security and cooperation in europe, but i think it's best known because we put a spotlight on human rights issues. we try to live up to that motto "never again." we try to say that we will not let violations of basic human rights go unchallenged. so on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz and birkenau which are the iconic symbols today of the holocaust let us rededicate ourselves to make sure never again becomes a reality. with that, mr. president, i would yield the fl

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. flake: yesterday the congressional budget office c.b.o. released the budget, the economic outlook showing the forecast through 2025. it should strike fear in the heart of anybody who is concerned about this country's financial future. the very short-term news -- the very short-term news -- is good. the deficit is projected to fall but only for another two years. in 2017, the deficit is projected to start rising again to $1.1 trillion in 10 years. that's the annual deficit. by 2025 the deficit will be 4% of our overall economy. right now the country's debt accumulated deficits over the years, accumulated debt is $18 trillion. this year we'll pay about $277 billion just servicing the debt. that amount might seem low but it's because of artificially low interest rates. in 10 years we'll pay about $827 billion a year just to service the debt. that's 3% of our economy just to pay interest off debt. that mr. president is unsustainable. don't take my word for it, though. you can take c.b.o.'

in the senate. >> this is all -- i have had 13 months in the senate.irst 13 months i was in the majority. i spent a lot of time learning. we had frank conversations, i within the always happy with the way things went. i'm a prisoner of hope that there will be a way to navigate now that i am in the minority. speaks of criminal justice reform, when i have kofrss with senator cornyn and senator scott with rand paul mike lee, i can go through, you know at least ten plus senators on the republican side who talked to me about this issue or cornyn, lee and paul put bills in. i'm hopeful, even with a republican majority, legislation can be done. we agree on the urgency tr tax reform to stop where you have corporations inverting or keeping jobs over seas. i would agree there's still work we can do on education in this country. we would agree there are things we can do with the apprenticeship program. the key for me in this minority role is to search for common ground, not bicker in a partisan way or play defense, but where can we come together. >> senator scott

from the leadership of senator reid. i am curious how that is going in terms of the progress that is being made and if you see -- and what point do you see majority leader mcconnell possibly pulling the plug and saying we have had enough of this. people aren't bringing their amendments to the floor and we have to move on. >> that is a good question to dove tail off of. we are trying to build the right of energy plan for this country. we have this open amendment process which means we are turning to regular order in the senate. republicans and democrats can bring their and limits down and offer them on this legislation. we will have a debate and we will get a vote. so we will have a good debate on energy which is what we need to have. we will work to get the job done for the american people. we are hoping that this helps bring more bipartisanship and open up the senate and break to the gridlock. i expect we will be on this bill probably for several more weeks so that people have the opportunity to offer amendments and vot

senate but i imagine that it means something to be senate bill 1. it probably means something even more to be senate bill 1 in the new republican majority senate. why? because my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have had eight years in the minority to think about what should be the first bill, the number-one priority of this new republican senate. eight years to think about every problem that american families are facing, to vet every possible solution to these problems and decide what is going to be the first bill that we're going to debate to make this country a better place. and so there were a lot of things that the new majority could have chosen. we could have been sitting here talking about a tax cut for the middle class. or we could have been talking about a proposal to make college more affordable. we have been talking about a proposal to grow small businesses all across the country. but we're not talking about those things. after eight years of stewing over the problems that america faces, senate bill 1 is an oil pipeline. and as m

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mrs. mccaskill: mr. president people who work in politics sometimes suffer a bad image. people who run for office, obviously, sometimes suffer a bad image but sometimes even worse is the image that what we call the political handlers have. those people who have made a career of professionally helping people get elected. they are seen as ruthless, as hired guns, as aggressive, even solace -- even soulless, unprincipled. i'm here to talk about one of those political operatives, but this political operative was special. this political operative was my friend. he was principled, he was brave but most of all he was a patriot. pat gray passed away very recently and he will be missed. pat grew up in oklahoma. after serving four years in the navy he moved to kansas city where he took a job with the kansas city power and light company. he also became very active in the jaycees. he vowed that the work as part of the jaycee organization was exhil

it's a new day in the senate. you'll hear majority leader mcconnell talking about restoring the senate. what he means by that, he intends to bring a new fresh more robust, more open, free-wheeling debate to the senate. members will have a chance to put forward amendments for the first time in a long time, and regular order in the committees will be restored under his leadership. >> will they also be dealing with a president who is in an objectively different place now? final two years he'll never face the voters again knows what he has to deal with now with a national legislature that is in the hands of the other party. we've seen glimmers of that in the last couple of months. >> i think you'll see both sides try to work together where they can. certainly the past is the past, but it's a new day. i think that there is a commitment from at least the republican leadership to try to reach out where there are areas of agreement. >> first order of business, jim manly, they announced a schedule for the debate of the key

>> yes senator. both the president has made clear both publically and privately, he's been meeting with folks privately as well. we also have a structure now at the white house. organizing a whole administration effort involving virtually the entire cabinet to promote the entire trade agenda. talking to members about tpp and what's in tpp and addressing their concerns and their questions, and talking about the importance of moving ahead on a bipartisan basis with trade promotion authority as well. so i have a great deal of support from the president on down. it's a priority for him. we want to work on a bipartisan basis. make sure we're addressing concerns of democrats and republicans as we move this forward. >> well, i'm happy to hear you say that. i think the voters in november sent a very strong message towel all of us on both sides to get it done. get something done. i think this ranks very close to the top in terms of things we can get done that will make a measurable improvement in terms of eco

but senator reid said you can have big things like that can get past the senate that is okay. part of the process so i am excited i will see a return i think to the legislative branch standing up to the executive branch hopefully to reclaim the powers that have been granted to push back from the white house that is trying to usurp their powers beyond what the constitution allows. it is hotly contested but i think it will be fun to observe and hopefully or prayerfully we will return to constitutional a balanced government between the three branches of government. thank you for letting me participate. [applause] >> i get the privilege to claim the first two questions. in your list or agenda for what the new congress must do as part of its calling back powers and its constitutional role, one piece of legislation for the obama administration that is a major source of controversy is obamacare. but yet you did not mention it. explain yourself. >>. [laughter] in obamacare the policy action has basically moved to the courts and to the states for the time being. the last week congress

we have senator baldwin, senator casey, senator whitehouse, senator murphy, and unless some random republican wanders into the room -- [laughter] and there should be time for all of you to have a full five minutes, and then we'll be close to the noon, the noon hour when we want to conclude the harding. senator baldwin. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i am very grateful to you and the ranking member for getting us off to a great start with a bipartisan dialogue on how we can best address the shortcomings of the no child left behind law. and i'm hopeful that we can find a thoughtful path forward to fixing this law for all students parents teachers, administrators policymakers. we need, we need this information also -- great panel thank you to the witnesses. a well designed standardized it'ses is one important tool among many that can help all of the stakeholders i just listed understand how well individual students are doing as well as how our nation's schools are serving all of our nation's children. and as such, we should know if the tests given -- those required by federal law as well as those t

that means fixing the senate. last session the house and over countless common sense bipartisan bills. too many of them died right here without so much as a hearing and senators from both parties with ideas for jobs and growth were routinely salvaged so it's time to change the business model. we need to return to regular order. we need to get committees working again. we need to recommit to a rational functioning appropriations process. we need to open up open up the legislative process in a way that allows more members from both sides. sometimes it's going to be mean working actually more often. sometimes it's going to be meaning, it will mean working late but restoring the senate is the right thing to do and it's the practical thing to do because we are only going to pass meaningful legislation when members of both parties are given a stake in the outcome. that's the genius of regular order. that's the genius of the senate. i'm reminded of this every time i walk into my office. on the wall are portraits of john

, senator stabenow senator whitehouse, it was a whirl wind trip. in a matter of two days, we had a number of visits with a variety of different people in havana. they included government officials, bruno rodriguez, had a lengthy meeting with him yesterday. we had a meeting with about ten different ambassadors from foreign countries to cuba. we met as well with about a dozen reformers or dissidents opponents of the current castro regime in cuba and had individual meetings with ministries. this was a productive and important delegation trip. important because starting tomorrow we are going to have face-to-face negotiations in havana between the united states and cuba. pursuant to president obama's december 17th announcement, we are setting out to change the foreign policy of the united states cause it regards -- as it regards cuba. it's time for a change. for over 50 years, we have been committed to a policy of exclusion, believing that if we had embargoes and blockades, we could force internal change in cuba. the policy failed. the castro brothers s

i think the senator. >> mr. president i would like to thank the senator from kansas and with that we will wrap up the colloquy. i would like to thank my colleagues and we will be back and again we are looking to work with all of our colleagues here on an open process to offer amendments and pass legislation for the american people. thank you mr. president with any of the floor. >> on the previous previous order the time till 4:15 will be controlled by the democratic leader or his designee. >> mr. president. >> thank you mr. president. i take this time and some of my colleagues will be joining me to express her concerns about the first major bill brought to the floor under republican leadership dealing with the keystone pipeline. i want to first start by talking about the so-called urgency for us to take this issue up and circumvent the normal process, the normal process would be for this matter to continue through the regulatory review which is there to protect the public interest and to short-circuit that in an

senator boxer, senator kerry on moving a bill. we had a process moving in the senate. we had a process moving in the house, and our goal was to get both climate change and health care. done there was a way to do both. it would not have been the same bill that passed the senate the past the house, but we would have been able to harmonize the differences in conference. what ended up happening was the only path to getting that done was to get health care run in 2009, and it took us until march 2010 to get health care and that closed the space on climate. but congressman waxman, like almost every member of the house and senate i dealt with, i think yelled at me at one time or another being in the white house, and the beauty of our jobs in the white house is that your mornings are spent with people in the white house who think they're co-opted by congress, and your afternoons are spent in congress and they think they are co-opted by the white house. they called me up and yelled when he was unhappy. i was at dinner the other night with 35 members and i speech them, i looked

i see senator leahy is here. so i recognize senator leahy. >> senator tillis is here too. i withhold my time i have. >> thank you, senator. ms. lynch, i wanted to go back to, and i do apologize for all this cycling, if you saw the activity over in the senate chamber, you know why we're going through. it certainly not for a lack of -- through it. certainly not for a lack of interest in this topic. i want to go back to the idea of the limited resources within the d.o.j. and some matters that i'd like to get some sense that if you should be confirmed, that you would take a look at it and potentially reconsider some of the priorities of the current attorney general. i'll give you one example. in north carolina we did change the election law, early voting. we went from 17 days to 10 days. in that law though, we made it by law you could never offer fewer hours of early voting than the highest number that you'd ever offered in that particular county. what that had the effect of in this last election cycle is historic turnout. even among minorities. and so i've got -- we've got a

. >> thank you, senator. senator coons. >> thank you senator. too support the administration's strong and persistent and determined efforts to bring iran to the table. and congressionally enacted and administratively implemented sanctions have made a critical difference in changing the trajectory of iran's illicit nuclear weapons program. like many of my colleagues, i have deep suspicion of iran's intentions and actions rooted in their human rights violations their support for terrorism regionally and around the ç÷@pworld. developments even today in yemen that suggest they continue to engage in activities not not just their illicit nuclear weapons program but in many other ranges that should give us deep pause about any agreement with them. nonetheless, i think you've made significant progress in getting them to the table and in continuing negotiations. but i will just reassert that no deal is better than a bad deal and that a deal we cannot ultimately enforce and that we cannot ultimately live with in terms of where it leaves us in the long ter

are senator from -- friend the senior senator from the great state of arkansas, somebody who really i think has not only a good understanding of how our economy works what needs to be done somebody who has good relationships on both sides of the aisle which is so important as we try to build support for this and other legislation but somebody whose state is directly affected, mr. president by this project. and i know that you'll agree with me that it's very important on behalf of the state of arkansas that we move forward with the keystone x.l. pipeline project. i think some -- a very high percentage of the pipe that goes into this project about a 1,200-mile-long project, is actually manufactured and made in arkansas. so here's clear benefit for workers manufacturing industry and workers in the state of arkansas that correlates directly to this project and to this legislation. and so i'd like to turn to the senator -- the senior senator from arkansas and ask him about that and say tell us about the importance of this project in terms of what it means to the great state of arkansas. mr

the senate please -- the senate will be in order please. the senate is not in order.jority leader. mr. mcconnell: mr. president i enter a vote to reconsider the cloture vote on the murkowski substitute amendment number 2. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close the debate on s. 1 a bill to approve the keystone x.l. pipeline signed by 17 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 the debate on s. 1 a bill to approve the keystone x.l. pipeline, shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule, and the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: any senators wishing to vote or change their vote? if not on this vote, the yeas are 53, the nays are 39. three-fifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted in the affir