stabenow: thank you. i want to take a few moments to talk about the importance of crop insurance as a risk-management tool. i think we'll probably have a lot of discussion on the floor about crop insurance but we are, as i said earlier, moving away as a matter of policy from direct subsidies and we certainly haven't subsidized tobacco growers for a long time and i would not support doing that. we are moving in general away from that into an insurance model, and the cost is shared between the federal government and -- and growers. we want as many growers as possible to purchase crop insurance rather than having a disaster and then wanting us to pass a disaster assistance bill. we didn't have to do that this last time around, i might add, despite the worst drought in 50, 60, 70 years, because crop insurance worked this last year. it covered the losses. so it's a very important public- private sector process and partnership, and one of my concerns about carving it up or removing one crop or another or puttin

stabenow: thank you. mr. president, first of all, i have nine unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have been approved by the majority and minority leaders. and i ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and that these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of s. 954, which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 73, s. 954, a bill to reauthorize agriculture programs through year 2018. ms. stabenow: thank you very much, mr. president. we are going to resume now discussion on the farm bill. before doing that, i see one of the distinguished members of our committee on the floor who i know would like to make some other kphefpbts. and i just want to thank her in advance for her leadership. we are so excited and pleased to have the senator from north dakota on the committee. she said to my 1,000 ti

stabenow: thank you very much. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the previous order, the senate begin consideration of s. res. 65 at 3:45 p.m., that there be 50 minutes of debate, that the republicans control 30 minutes, the majority control 20 minutes. that the majority's time -- that of the majority's time, senator menendez control 15 minutes and senator blumenthal control five minutes. that all other provisions under the previous order remain in effect. that upon disposition of s. res. 65, the senate resume consideration of s. 954, there be two minutes for debate equally divided in the usual form and the senate immediately proceed to vote in relation to the shaheen amendment 925. that there be no second-degree amendments in order prior to the vote. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. stabenow: thank you, mr. president. as a result of this agreement, all -- if all time is used, at approximately 4:35 p.m., there will be two roll call votes, the first on adoption

stabenow: thank you, madam president. let me tell my colleagues, i think we're off to a great start here with our first vote. before proceeding with senator gillibrand's amendment, i would ask unanimous consent that the sessions amendment 945 as modified with the changes that are at the desk be agreed to. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. stabenow: thank you very much. mrs. gillibrand: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mrs. gillibrand: i rise today to urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join my effort to fight off the proposed $4 billion worth of cuts to the snap program, better known as food stamps. i'd like to ask that my amendment 931 be called up for a vote at a time determined by the manager of the bill. when congress proposes to cut the food stamp program, it is not a nameless, faceless person looking for a handout that suffer. it is hungry children. it's hard-working adults. it's seniors on fixed income, veterans, active duty service memb

stabenow: madam president? first before the senator from wisconsin leaves the floor i just want to indicate how thrilled i am to have another great lakes senator with us in the united states senate, and senator baldwin is an unvaluable member of the budget committee. she's fighting hard for wisconsin agriculture, and now in the middle of the efforts on the farm bill i know she's deeply involved and concerned about our men and women who provide the food that we put on our tables every day, and so we just want to thank you for your leadership. we're just so pleased to have you in the united states senate. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of s. 954, which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 73, s. 954, a bill to reauthorize agricultural programs through 2018. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: madam president, we're going to have a vote coming up in -- let's see, in a

stabenow: thank you. mr. coburn: i ask for the yeas and nays on our amendment and yield back our time. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. yeas and nays are ordered. mr. stabenow: i ask for yeas and nays on the hagan amendment. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are so ordered. ms. stabenow: we would yield back all time. the presiding officer: if all time is yielded back, the question is on amendment 1031. the yeas and nays were ordered. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: anyone wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, the ayes are 94, the nays zero. the amendment is agreed to. order. under the -- under the previous order, there will be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to amendment numbered 953 offered by the senator from illinois, mr. durbin. who yields time? mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. d

stabenow: thank you very much. let me just say for the purposes of the members now that we have committeed our official voting forted, i want to thank everyone for all their hard work and the staff for all of their hard work. it's a continuing pleasure to work with my ranking member, senator cochran. we are in the process of securing a time for hopefully a vote in the morning, and then we have a number of votes tomorrow. we are on a path to get this done, and with the cooperation of the members, we are hopeful we will have a number of votes tomorrow and be able to move on a path to be able to complete this very important bill. i would just remind colleagues 16 million people work in this country because of agriculture. it's the biggest jobs bill probably that will come before this body, and we're very grateful for everyone's patience and willingness to work with us to bring this bill to completion. i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: a senator:

stabenow: first, mr. president, before discussing the amendment, i think it is important to het note that this is not germane to the farm bill and food label something properly subject to the jurisdiction of the help committee and, therefore, senator harkin opposes the amendment. i, too, while i appreciate very much the advocacy of senator sanders on so many different issues, i do believe that this particular amendment would interfere with the f.d.a.'s science-based process to determine what food label something necessary for consumers. it's also important to note that around the world now we are seeing genetically modified crops that have the ability to resist crop diseases and improve nutritional content and survive drought conditions in many developing countries, we see wonderful work being done by foundations like the gates foundation and others, that are using new techniques to be able to feed hungry people. i believe we must rely on the f.d.a.'s science-based examination before we make conclusions a

stabenow: thank you. ms. stabenow: and i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak up to ten minutes each. officer if he without objection. -- the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: i want to start by thanking senator whitehouse who has shown such strong leadership on the issues that we're going to be discussing this afternoon, which is how do we get out of the sequestration box that we are now in. i also want to thank him for joining with me in sponsoring the cut unjustified tax loopholes act, which could do so much to address the problems which we're going to be discussiodiscussing here today,g the need to move forward on the solutions to our budget deficit and end ting sequestration. and i would -- and to ending sequestration. and i would ask unanimous consent, mr. president, following my remarks, that the senator from rhode island, be recognized for

stabenow: madam president, we have made great progress today. i want to thank colleagues for their work today in bringing forth amendments, and we will continue to work with members as we go forward tomorrow, putting together a number of votes to bring before the body. we are working hard to do everything possible to complete this legislation by the end of the week. i think we're on good track. i would announce that on behalf of the two leaders, there will be no more votes this evening. and i would ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to a period of morning business until 6:30 with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. landrieu: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. ms. landrieu: thank you, madam president. i real a reactor the hard work of the -- i really appreciate the hard work of the senators from michigan and mississippi in moving a farm bill through the senate. it really one of the most important bills we'll take up this year, and action

stabenow: "but why didn't you know when you were there?" shulman: "i- i agree that this is an issue that when someone spotted it, they should have run up the chain and they didn't. and why they didn't, i don't know." shulman contends he was not responsible for the controversy and regrets it happened when he was at the helm. as federal reserve chairman ben benarnke heads to capitol hill today to talk about the economy, the wall street journal reports traders are concerned about comments in a fed paper regarding high-speed trading. it calls for trades to be executed every half-second, versus the current steady stream of computer trading. high- frequency prefer high speeds, saying it adds liquidity to the market. the fed paper argues it blocks out average investors. a bill that will help approve construction of the keystone pipeline is expected to pass the house today. the legislation would speed along the construction process of the pipeline's northern route. the plan is heavily supported by house republicans. however, today house democrats w

cowan, chairwoman stabenow. >> no. the clerk will tally the vote. 12., total nays >> are there further amended to the nutrition title? senator roberts. , i have ahairwoman bill that encompasses many of the mms that have already been considered, and some that are about to be considered, so this is a comprehensive amendment with regards to what i call foodstamp reform. i'm going to introduce this, i will read it very weekly and withdraw it here and and see if it could be considered here on the floor. in that respect, perhaps the senator from new york could check her blood pressure little bit and we can move on down the road. this amendment cosponsored by senators thune and johanns would rein in the largest furniture, we're talking talking about snap, of course it weakening's -- restore integrity to this program while providing benefits to those truly in need, save over $31 billion. i know that figure may have found some of the committee, but i think it is accurate. first, it eliminates the lie he loophole. let me be clea

stabenow: i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: a senator: i ask that we dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations which the clerk will report. the clerk: sheri polster chappell florida to be united states district judge, michael j. mcshane of oregon to be united states district judge. the presiding officer: under the previous order, there will be 30 minutes for debate equally divided in the usual form. the senator from connecticut. mr. murphy: i ask that i be allowed to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. murphy: thank you, madam president. it has now been almost six months since the horrible shooting in my state of connecticut in sandy hook, connecticut, where 20 6- and 7 olds lost their lives and another six adults protecting them perished as well. we all believed that we were going t

cosponsor included senator kirk, senator mikulski, senator murkowski, harkin, sanders, levin, menendez, stabenow, heinrich, boxer, gillibrand, durbin, murphy, baldwin, landrieu, brown and begich. when congress passed the e.r.a. in 1972, it provided that the measure had to be ratified by three-fourths of the states, 38 states, within seven years. this deadline was later extended to ten years by a joint resolution enacted by congress. but ultimately only 35 of the 38 states required ratified the e.r.a. when the deadline expired in 1982. congress has the authority to give the states another chance and should do so. in 1992, i want to point out to my colleagues that the 27th amendment to the constitution prohibiting immediate congressional pay raise was ratified after 203 years. so this additional delay is certainly keeping with our prior precedent. article 5 of the constitution contains no time limit for the ratification of constitutional changes. and the e.r.a. time limit was contained in a joint resolution, not the actual text of the amendment. the 14th amendment of the constitution requires equa

. >> woodruff: michigan democrat debbie stabenow complained that the targeting by staffers in a cincinnatiional office went on for 18 months. >> how could it take so long for senior people at the i.r.s. to find the problem, fix the problem? and was there no ongoing oversight of the employees in cincinnati? >> i'm not there to go ask a set of questions of people-- what happened, when, who and how. >> but, with all due respect, you were there, though? >> i was there. but since this all came to light and the full set of facts are there, i haven't been able to be back there, talking with people doing things. so, let me though just answer your question... >> but why didn't you know when you were there? >> i agree that this is an issue that when someone spotted it, they should have run up the chain, and they didn't. and why they didn't, i don't know. >> woodruff: the news ultimately came out when an i.r.s. official, lois lerner, took a prearranged question at a public conference on may 10 and issued an apology. today, steven miller, who was ousted last week as the acting i.r.s. commissioner, sai

stabenow: thank you, madam president. i'd like to speak for a few minutes today about the importance of getting a budget done this year all the way through the entire process. senator reid, our majority leader, last evening spoke again about the fact that we've had 15 days now of trying to just come together to create a conference committee to work out differences between the house and the senate on a budget, and for some reason, after talking i think at least three years that i can remember from colleagues on the other side of the aisle saying that we needed regular order, we needed regular order, we need to get a budget done, they now are objecting to getting a budget done. which is extraordinary. the fact is that we can't get a budget done if the house and senate don't appoint conferees and sit down and negotiate differences. huge differences, i might add, between the house and the senate. it is true that we will not accept in the united states senate eliminating medicare as an insurance plan for seniors and the disabl

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senator stabenow. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman.judge, you're with me. essentially, orrin hatch implied that both of these guys knew about the targeting of conservatives, but did nothing about it, they did not come clean at the time in the middle of an election, and mr. hatch said, this was a lie by omission. >> the reason he's saying that because he wrote letters because he got anecdotal information about this and the letters were just general, we're looking into it, looking into it. when we know at the time they were looking into it, they knew about it. stuart: right in the middle of an election campaign, charles, they knew what was going on and did not come clean. charles: hence, hatch's comment, lie of omission. may be the line so far. stuart: mr. miller said we were not politically motivated. so what motivated you. >> not a-- >> i'm going to read it it was a desire to protect the president's campaign, that that's my opinion. that's not what came out in this. shall we go back? >> yes. stuart: let's go back. >> came to the attent

i will continue to work with senator levin, senator stabenow and other great lakes senators on this bill. the wrda bill will go a long way toward increasing the efficiency of the shipping across the great lakes system, strengthening the economic standing of our agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and other industries. now, the bill also makes critical reforms to our nation's river and waterways. the inland waterway system in this country spans 38 states and handles approximately one-half of the inland waterway freight. farmers and businesses in my state heavily rely on this system to transport soybeans, corn and other commodities from minnesota to terminals in the south. from there, ships are loaded and eventually delivered to trading partners. again, if we want to make things and export to the world, we have to have the transportation system that supports it. with many maintenance and construction projects years overdue, the inland waterways are in dire need of major rehabilitation. the inland waterways trust fund which funds these projects is in steady decline. if we don't make the inl

lastly on energy programs, again, i commend our senator stabenow and cochran for including a substantial level of mandatory funding to continue the effective and beneficial initiatives. again, madam chair, thank you, and thanks senator cochran and so many others that work to bring together, i think, a truly, truly very good bill. >> well thank you very much. i'd like to turn to senator johannes, and in addition to having four former chairman of the committee, we have a former secretary of the department of agriculture. i don't know any committee that has such a wealth of expertise and depth as knowledge as this one, and senator johanns, we appreciate your leadership and experience with the committee. >> well, thank you very much, madam chair. i might just note that during the time i was secretary of agriculture, i had the pleasure of working with two different chairs because the senate slipped, and it started out working with chambliss, and that was an honor and particular, and then i had the opportunity to work with senator harkin, honor and pleasure, and the thing i would say that most

>> no. >> chairman stabenow? >> no. clerk will tally the vote. >> total ayes eight. total nos 12. >> the nays having the majority it is not adopted. are there further amendments to the nutrition title? senator roberts. >> madam chairwoman, i have a bill that encompassing many of the amendments that have already been considered and some that are about to be considered. so this is a comprehensive amendment with regards to what i call food stamp reform. i'm going to introduce this. i'm going to read it very quickly. i'm going to withdraw it. and see if it could be considered on the floor. and in that respect, perhaps the senator from new york could check her blood pressure a little bit and, we can move on down the road. this amendment cosponsored by senators thune and johanns would help rein in the largest expenditure within the department of ag's budget. we're talking about snap of course. we can restore integrity to program while providing benefits it those truly in need, save over $31 become. that figure may astound some of the committee but i think it is accurate. f

i commend and applaud the chairman of that committee, debbie stab a numbe stabenow. she is really a good legislator. they got that bill out of that committee in a very quick. -- in a very quick fashion. so, i repeat, i admire what she has done and she also has a new ranking member there, the senator from mississippi, a fine man and a good legislator. as i've said, as soon as it's ready, i'm going to bring that immigration legislation to the floor. we're going it start on the farm bill monday. i'm going to bring the immigration bill to the floor regardless of whether we have committed action on the farm bill. although immigration is a complex and controversial issue that deserves ample time for thoughtful debate and consideration, it's also too important to delay action any longer. as the senator from nevada and a father-in-law who was born in russia emigrated to the united states, i've witnessed firsthand our broken immigration system. i've seen the heartbreak that it's caused for families. this issue is very personal for me. it's very personal to every immigrant fam

stabenow: thank you, mr. president. i first want to thank the chair of our committee, the budget committee, for doing such a terrific job in bringing us all together. my colleagues on the committee, as we all know, we worked very, very hard together in order to be able to put together a balanced budget that reflects the values of the american people, that's fair, that's balanced in values and approach as well as in numbers, and we did that. and it was 46 days ago. so 46 days ago after over three years of hearing about how the senate hadn't passed a budget, the senate hadn't passed a budget, well, even though we had passed a law, by the way, called the budget control act that actually had done the same thing as a budget, but we heard this politically over and over again, ro, those of us on the ballot this last time heard it over and over again from opponents. so i'm stunned actually that we would now be 46 days and counting into a situation where we have been trying to take the budget we passed by a majority vote -- by t

tomorrow on "morning joe," congressman elijah cummings will join us in michigan along with debbie stabenow back with much more on "morning joe." coming up, tom coburn. ♪ [ agent smith ] i've found software that intrigues me. it appears it's an agent of good. ♪ [ agent smith ] ge software connects patients to nurses to the right machines while dramatically reducing waiting time. [ telephone ringing ] now a waiting room is just a room. [ static warbles ] from capital one... boris earns unlimited rewards for his small business. can i get the smith contract, please? thank you. that's three new paper shredders. [ boris ] put 'em on my spark card. [ garth ] boris' small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase every day. great businesses deserve unlimited rewards. read back the chicken's testimony, please. "buk, buk, bukka!" [ male announcer ] get the spark business card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards. choose 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase every day. told you i'd get half. moderatedor of "meet the press" david gregory and the aspen institute walter isaacson. we

i believe we have heard from all members now we will move to the stabenow conference of the plot packageto individual amendments circulated to members earlier consistent with the goal to save over $23 billion and let me comment on a couple of items but it i do feel the need to remind us as we move forward , that we have significant reforms in this bill, 95 percent of what we have done and the one block amendment adds several things that are significant items to go to reform but i want to remind members have the eliminated direct payment, increased crop insurance, a drafting reforms, eliminated over 100 different programs or consolidated them to streamline the operation of farm programs for farmers and ranchers and those involved in the program. we have the lowest ati limit on farm programs that we have ever had. so for those who say there is no reform in the bill i would counter that by saying we have very significant reforms and we are adding in this amendment to other important items. one that relates to conservation compliance and i want to thank everyone who has been involved with th

stabenow the gentleman from ohio mr. johnson for five minutes. >> thank you mr. johnson. mr.cohen, has your office done any analysis of the health care law of obama's impact on premiums? >> nope. no analysis. >> that's great. we are going to have a fun session. so, our premiums going up or down for the average consumer? millions of americans don't have insurance are going to have engines in october or under the law? for the average consumer that has health care today are their premiums going up or down? >> i think we have to wait and see when the plans submitted their rate. >> but that isn't what the premise to become president promised. he promised that supporters would see lower costs. some are people going to see increases or decreases in their premiums? >> we have to wait and see how they come in for 2014. over time people are absolutely will see lower cost as we see more competition in the system, broader risk pool and if you look at the overall health care costs people have to absorb given tax credits, where cost sharing. >> who is going to see lower costs? what demogra