stabenow: mr. president, i want to first as we begin the final debate and vote on the farm bill conference report, i want to thank our majority leader for supporting this effort every step of the way. every time i have gone to him and said mr. leader, we need to have time for some particular procedural vote or to move it along, he has been there, and i want to thank him very, very much for moving this conference report so quickly. i want to thank also senator cochran and our entire committee when senator cochran is here later today. i want to particularly speak more about the wonderful partnership that we have had. i know that the senior senator from north dakota will be speaking after me. i want to thank him, senator hoeven, for being an invaluable partner through this entire process. and it's been just a tremendous pleasure working with the senior senator, and he has made a real impact, and i am very, very appreciative. as my colleagues know, the last farm bill expired 490 days ago. 490 days ago.

but thank goodness for the perseverance of senator stabenow and many others. they have produced this document. now, for those who don't live in farm country, this may seem like a foreign text, but for those of us who do live, just reading the table of contents will tell you the important elements of this bill and why it is so critically important to illinois, virtually every state in the union. and i commend her. i commend senator stabenow. she really, as i said, poured her heart and soul into this document. there are things in here which many of us may never really appreciate that she fought for over a long, long period of time, and i'm going to acknowledge a few of those during the course of my former remarks, but while she is here on the floor, let me give special credit to my colleague. she really took on this task and did it in an extraordinary way. after years of expirations and teamster extensions, primarily due to the problems and inaction in the house of representatives, this bill finally is going to provide farmers in illinois and across the nation w

stabenow: thank you, madam president. we have heard a lot from colleagues over the last two days about just how important this farm bill is, and that's because there is so much more in this bill than what we would call a farm bill. really, 12 different pieces of legislation from farm to research to fruits and vegetables to energy across the board all put together in something we call the farm bill. this is most importantly a major bipartisan jobs bill that makes sure that 16 million people who work in agriculture from michigan to mississippi to oklahoma and everywhere in between have the support they need. this is an exports bill that will help expand opportunities for american agricultural exports. one of the few areas where our nation maintains a healthy, robust trade surplus. this is a research bill that will make a permanent long-term commitment through a new public-private foundation and other investments that will allow us to find solutions to pests and diseases and focus on innovations for the future. this is an en

join us on newsmakers is senator debbie stabenow. she is chairman of the agriculture committee. our panelists are alan bjerga of bloomberg news, and ed o'keefe of "the washington post." mr. bjerga, you may start the questioning. >> thank you. >> senator, you seem poised to see the passage of a piece of work for several years, a new five-year farm bill. there was a rejection of the house last year. a lot of negotiations back and forth and it seems like with each of these bills that gets passed, there is a bigger chorus of people who say that farm subsidies are too generous. or this time you've faced a lot of criticism on the food stamp program. is this the last farm bill you see being passed this way? is the split in the house last ear a foretaste of farm bill to come? >> we all have a stake in having affordable, safe food. we in america are blessed that there's a group of people that are willing to get up every day and fight the weather. nobody else in their business has to worry if their business will be wiped out by drought. we have a joint stake, both families, farmers, and c

stabenow: thank you, mr. president. first i want to thank the senator from connecticut for his advocacy for seniors, for children, for families, for small businesses to have access to affordable quality health insurance. a powerful voice. and also to congratulate his state of connecticut and the governor of connecticut who are working very, very hard, and i know are doing a great job on their insurance pool, the health care exchange that is providing more affordable health insurance for the citizens in connecticut. so i want to thank you for all of your leadership. i rise also today to talk about the fact that millions of american families today have access to more affordable health care. seniors, children, small businesses, others are getting the opportunity to have the health care that they are paying for and know that they can get the health care that they need even if they have a preexisting condition because of the affordable care act. i want to take a few moments as well today to talk about what this means for our

>> today on c-span, newsmakers with senator debbie stabenow. --s is followed by state of president obama's state of the union address in the republican response. the numbers of congress from both parties respond to the state of the union and discussed the year ahead. after several years of wrangling, the house has passed a five-year farm bill. now it is up to the senate and that will be happening this week. join us on newsmakers is senator debbie step now. she is chairman of the agriculture committee. alan bjerga ofre bloomberg news and ed o'keefe of the washington post. >> you seem poised to see the passage of a piece of work for user -- several years. there was a rejection of the house last year. a lot of negotiations back and forth and it seems like with each of these bills that gets passed, there is a bigger chorus of people who say that farm subsidies are too generous. now there is criticism of the food stamp program. is this the last farm bill you see being passed this way? is the split in the house last year a foretaste of farm bill come

stabenow: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: mr. president, first i have 10 unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and the minority leaders. i would ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and that these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. stabenow: i would ask secondly unanimous consent that a further statement regarding issues in the nutrition title be submitted into the record on my behalf. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. stabenow: thank you. and i'd like very much to take just a moment, mr. president, as i know we'll be closing for lunch in just a moment, but there's some very important people that i need to thank today. and i want to take this moment before we have the final vote to do that. i know, listening to other colleagues as we come to major pieces of legislation and at the end, they talk about the importance of their staff. i have come to realize, mr. president

prouder of our leaders who are here today, in particular, i could not be prouder of your own debbie stabenow -- >> [ cheers and applause ] >> -- who has done just extraordinary work. [ applause ] >> so we all love debbie for a lot of reasons. she has been a huge champion of american manufacturing, but really sheperded through this farm bill. she worked with republican senator, thad cock -- cockrin who has been very helpful in this process. and our own secretary tom billsack -- [ applause ] >> so congress passed a bipartisan farm bill that will make a big difference in communities across this country. i want to recognize one of your congressmen who is doing an outstanding job, dan killdi, and somebody who was just a wonderful mentor to me when i was in the senate, and has been just a great public servant not just for your state, but for the entire country, karl leven. [ cheers and applause ] >> he is always out there. and especially when it comes to our men and women in uniform. we're very proud of him. [ applause ] >> and you have been listening to president obama, talking about attempting a

now, having said that, i do want to take a moment to personally thank chairperson stabenow and chairman lucas over in the house for their unwavering drive and perseverance to finalize a farm bill. it is one thing for notice stand up and -- it is one thing for me to stand up and criticize it and find in my heart and in my mind in behalf of my kansas producers to vote now," because i think that's the right -- to vote "no," because i think that's the right vote, but i also know that they have endeavored, chairman stabenow and chairman lucas, to at least get a bill. it is a tall task to get a majority of the members of congress to understand that the farm bill is not simply a bill that you pay off. i can remember that time when i was chairman of the committee over in the house and i asked a colleague to help me on the farm bill. he said, why don't you just pay it? indicating his broad knowledge of the farm bill at that particular time. so the farm bill is not simply a bill that you just pay off. it instead represents important legislation for both urban, rural states and district and the st

the average savings for seniors senators stabenow will talk about his been $1200. people often don't know this because of the affordable care act. when you go and and a drug all of a sudden costs 50% less than it did there is no stamp on that bill that says courtesy of the affordable care act but the fact is that without the affordable care at seniors over the course of the last three years will have spent $9 billion more on drugs. a number so big it's hard to fathom but the affordable care act has saved seniors $9 billion an average of $1200 per senior. on top of that when seniors get their annual check-up or they go when for a cancer screening or tobacco cessation program those preventative health care visits are now free for 25 million seniors that have access those programs across the country. in my state of connecticut 76,000 people with medicare have taken advantage of free annual wellness visits under the health care law. we are seeing tremendous benefits for seniors all across the country but it's not just about the doughnut hole and not just about preventa

stabenow: thank you. before the chairman of the veterans' affairs committee leaves the floor, i just want to say thank you to him for his passion and advocacy. the legislation he spoke of this morning is incredibly important. if i'm not yet on that bill, senator sanders, i need to be and will be. please sign me up. it's absolutely true that we need to do more than just make speeches. we need to put our commitment, our resources, keep our promises to our veterans. that's what this bill does. and we thank you very, very much. we also, mr. president, have a bill in front of us that is about our veterans. and this bill -- maybe some can come down and help me out on this. this bill is about our veterans. and the question is on a "yes" or "no" on this final bill: do we support our stphrepbs -- our veterans? you vote "yes." if we do not support our veterans, want to play political games with it, find some other excuse not to vote veterans, you vote "no." it's very simple. keep our promise, vote "yes." don't care

stabenow,nator debbie ,he secretary of agriculture and they are all celebrating that this finally gote finish line through bipartisan compromise that people do not think was possible. points ofthe sore this, one of the areas the controversy was food stamps. and a lot of families are going to be affected by this. how difficult will it be? >> you will see a reduction in benefits for 800 or 900 families. people at about 16 states, they should be checking with her social services department to see how the states will be dealing with is 8.6 lane dollar cut over 10 years. even the congressional climate, a lot of democrats were thing full that it was not even more -- were thankful that it was not even more. this is now a program that -- sevene out of every americans. the president of the united states and east lansing, michigan, where he has just signed the farm bill into law. the building blocks of imagination, now the lego universe is expanding again but to a theater near you. detail, in just a moment. ♪ >> the lego movie opens today, bringing the globally popular toy to the big screen for

it will increase crop insurance, decrease some subsidies that senator stabenow of michigan thought wered certainly didn't get everything that the president and democrats wanted but they see it as a reasonable compromise, $8 billion to food stamps cuts which republicans were asking for as well. >> nbc's kristen welker for us, thank you and thank you for joining us on this thursday afternoon. that's going to do it for me. i'm craig melvin. up next, "andrea mitchell reports." ve a big meeting when we land, but i am so stuffed up, i can't rest. [ male announcer ] nyquil cold and flu liquid gels don't unstuff your nose. they don't? alka seltzer plus night fights your worst cold symptoms, plus has a decongestant. [ inhales deeply ] oh. what a relief it is. there's nothing like being your own boss! and my customers are really liking your flat rate shipping. fedex one rate. really makes my life easier. maybe a promotion is in order. good news. i got a new title. and a raise? management couldn't make that happen. [ male announcer ] introducing fedex one rate. simple, flat rate shipping with the

join us on newsmakers is senator debbie stabenow. she is chairman of the agriculture committee. our panelists are alan bjerga of bloomberg news, and ed o'keefe of "the washington post." mr. bjerga, you may start the questioning. >> thank you. >> senator, you seem poised to see the passage of a piece of

the president took a victory lap in michigan with debbie stabenow, your colleague who sort of shepherdedge. you voted against it. a massively disproportionate amount of the food stamp cuts will fall on poor people in your state. do democrats, the white house and your fellow democrats sell out new york state? >> well, i'm troubled and one of the reasons why i voted against that bill is what it does mean is 300,000 families in our state are going to receive about $90 less a month, and for a family on food stamps, that is your last week of groceries. imagine putting your child to bed and she says to you, daddy, i'm still hungry. imagine being not able to do a thing about it because you have nothing to feed her. >> so why did your fellow democrats vote for and sign into law -- >> i disagree with them. i think it was the wrong vote. i think it was the wrong compromise. especially if you're in section 8 housing or low-income housing. you don't have the ability to travel to washington and meet with ten senators. you're working hard every day to provide food for your kids. it's just the wrong cu

democratic lawmakers join the president at the event, including the agricultural committee chaired debbie stabenow. this is about 40 minutes. [" hail to the chief" plays] [applause] >> hello, spartans! oh, thank you so much. everybody have a seat. it's good to be in michigan state. for that, ben, wonderful introduction. give him a wonderful round of applause. [applause] his beautiful family right here. how was data, pretty good? yeah, he did good? i thought he did great. it is good to be in east lansing, good to be with all of you here today. heardre because i have about all of the great things you are doing, and i want to thank mayor triplett and president simon for hosting us. i am also here to do some scouting on my bracket. [laughter] i just talked to coach izzo. the spartans are looking pretty good. i know that things were a little wild for a while, had some injuries, but the truth is that coach izzo, he always paces so that you peek right at the tournament. that's a fact. [applause] meet mark a chance to dantonio. [applause] so we already have a rose bowl victory. guys -- you're greedy. [lau

then he has the campus of michigan state university a long with debbie stabenow. is going to sign a five-year farm bill. both the house and senate are out of session today. the senate is also back monday at 2:00 p.m. as lawmakers will work on a bill that restores cuts to military pensions. you can follow the house here on c-span. >> i came to washington to conduct investigations. five or six days a week. eight or 10 hours a day. i had a great galaxy. people are on the stand. we never would colin man if we knew that he was in there. >> they continued the series of oil history interviews with former supreme court justices. washington, online at c- span.org. channel 120. >> opening ceremonies are underway in sochi. with the start of the winter games, our focus was on the number of issues related to the olympics including the intersection of politics and the olympics throughout history. conversation from philadelphia is eric zillmer, the athletic director and a professor at drexel university. we are going to be talking about the history and politics of the olympics wi

by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] debbie stabenow is our guest. she talks about the farm bill. here is a preview. not doing subsidies anymore. insurance, doing which we share the cost and. --in. disaster, or if there is a market or price loss -- zero help unless there is they have -- is a loss. >> there are target prices. >> core prices are high right now. if you don't have a weather disaster? you will get zero. farmers --lion our million our farmers -- millionare farmers. if you are a millionaire, you don't qualify. you don't get any help unless there is a loss on the but the --ndment which i supported senator grassley's amendment -- put an overall cap on what you can receive under target prices. and loans. it was $125,000 total. underneath that, he cap each area separately. we kept the overall cap. for the first time ever we have capped loans. we left flexibility, so if you want a higher loan, you get lower payment limits. if you want higher payment limits, you get lower loans. i understand all the stuff is very complicated. it thr

stabenow: thank you, madam president. mr. thune: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: madam president, i come to the floor today to discuss the stagnant obama economy and how obamacare is making it worse. this is the fifth anniversary of the day the president's signed his trillion-dollar stimulus bill into law. the remarks he paid gave that day the president stated that the legislation marked the beginning of the end of the nation's economic troubles. five years later, however, the end of the nation's economic strubles nowhere in sight. the headlines of the jobs report released friday say it all. the headline from the associated press said u.s. economy may be struck in slow lane for long run. "new york times" headline, weakness continues as 113,000 jobs are added in january. from cbs news, another month of weak job growth raises slowdown fears. from "the wall street journal," u.s. adds 113,000 jobs in latest worrying sign on growth. from reuters, u.s. employment fails to rebound strongly from winter chill

senator stabenow from michigan and i have a bill, excellence in mental health act that are supported by veterans' groups, by behavioral health groups, by law enforcement, that would just simply allow us to expand at very little cost the access to behavioral health that federally qualified health care centers, community health centers, that could happen. the president could be signing that into law sometime this year if he would just maybe even if he doesn't get involved, but if he gets involved, all these things are easier than if he doesn't. so we could see a number of significant things happen. >> for those of you in the room here, couple of blocks from the white house, there is a mobile olling question on the screen. senator blunt, the president has been talking about his pen, what do you think of that? > the president with three years left in his presidency, which is the length of the entire presidency. he has that much time left to say that i'm sort of giving up on both the congress and maybe the constitution. if there is a reason that things are supposed to be done the way they

. -- debbie stabenow. she will speak about the farm bill that was passed in the house yesterday. and what congress should do at the debt ceiling approaches. here's some of that interview. >> we are going to be in a situation where we will not be able to pay our bills. shame on us as america. if that is the case. we have to make sure that those we have committed to our paid. everybody is responsible. country.o do that as a it is pretty simple. the constitution requires us to do it. you negotiate on paying her bills. we can negotiate a lot of things. agriculture and food policy -- when it comes to paying the bills, it is our response ability to pay the bills. >> can you tolerate some upsets? -- offsets? can watch all of newsmakers tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. after newsmakers, president obama's date of the union address and the republican response by cathy mcmorris rodgers. starting at 10:35 eastern. c-span. we bring public affairs from washington directly to you go to you. offering complete gavel-to-gavel coverage of the u.s. house. all as a public servi

"fter that, "newsmakers with debbie stabenow.nd later, the the president's state of the union address followed by the response from cathy mcmorris rodgers. coming up next on "washington journal," the debate over executive powers will be the topic of discussions with simon lazarus from the constitutional accountability center and roger pilon of the cato institute. they will talk about how president obama and past presidents have used those powers and how they factor into current policy debate. after that, a look at what young voters thought about president obama's recent state of the union address and the issues they consider most important in the 14. matthew segal of the nonprofit organization ourtime will join us. ♪ ♪ host: a live view of the u.s. capitol. be meetingnt will separately with the house and senate democrats midweek. the president's national security team is back on capitol hill. last week they testified before the senate intelligence committee on tuesday. washere was also -- there also a hearing wednesday focused on

michigan democratic senator debbie stabenow is the chair of the agriculture committee and you can see the remarks live beginning at 2:10 eastern on the companion network c-span. >> on the challenge protecting credit cards and debit cards but the potential exposure we have is that people can actually get into our bank accounts or online transactions that we all do more and more online banking and other services. that offers an area where there were very few protections at this point and almost unlimited liability for consumers. >> personal information is collected from consumers wherever they go from the workplace to shopping for groceries from smart phones to browsing the web at home virtually every action involves the collection of information, some of it. sensitive. many of the uses have clear benefits but the recent data breach or is our stronger and also create the risk for consumers. >> where we are out sometimes ahead determining and looking at the data as it relates to the financial industries and through partnerships that we have in the financial industry sector is able someti

he heads to michigan with debbie stabenow who heads the agriculture committee and the senate and a signing somewhere in michigan on friday. enthrall your calls and comments. continue the conversation online. twitter #cspanchat is the hash tag. facebook.com/c-span. we will re-air the entire committee hearing tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span2. next up on c-span2, one of the many hearings we've covered over the past couple years to look at the oversize is pending threats against the u.s. coming yesterday the house intelligence committee heard from the heads of the top intelligence agencies including the director of national intelligence and had at the fbi. this is fran yesterday. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> of the committee will come to order. i have a few preliminary announcements before we start. last evening we had a specified commission to express our intelligence issues, including covert action programs, threats emanating from terrorist organizations and adversarial nations, the increase in cyberattack capabilities around the world. a full scope of i

. >> today on c-span, newsmakers with senator debbie stabenow.followed by state of president obama's state of the union address in the republican response. the numbers of congress from both parties respond to the state of the union and discussed the year ahead. after several years of wrangling, the house has passed a five-year farm bill. now it is up to the senate and that will be happening this week. join us on newsmakers is senator debbie step now. she is chairman of the agriculture committee. our panelists are