i see senator stabenow on the floor today. it's about giving a fair shot to these families and these students. we're going to talk about that a lot around here. when i think of where i am today, it's because of a mother who checked my report card every six weeks and told me i could always do better, and it's because i ended up in college and law school, and here i stand. i borrowed money from the government to do it. i couldn't have done it otherwise. so i believe in education. i certainly believe that kids from lower and middle income families, when they need to borrow money, should have that opportunity. but what's happening today is out of hand. the debt that we are piling on students today and their families is unconscionable. not just the for-profit schools but across the board. we believe on this side of the aisle that these students deserve an opportunity and they shouldn't be saddled with a debt that can literally ruin their lives. we're going to be working on this issue. it's part of our effort this year to define w

stabenow: thank you, mr. president. before the distinguished senator from new jersey, the senior senator, leaves, i just want to thank him for his diligence and advocacy on behalf of a distinguished american. i can say as a chair of the agriculture committee, without the work of cesar chavez, without those who toil in the fields, picking the fruits and vegetables and providing the backbone of the agricultural workforce, we wouldn't have an agricultural economy in many places in this country. and to say on the date of his birth that we recognize cesar chavez i think is something that is straightforward and ought to be happening and should have happened eight years ago. mr. president, today marks the culmination of a long fight to improve community mental health care in our country. last thursday the house of representatives passed the protecting access to medicare act, which includes a demonstration project based on the excellence in mental health act that my friend and partner from missouri, roy blunt, and i authored, a

stabenow: thank you, mr. president. i first want to thank my friend and colleague from connecticut for his passion and his wonderful advocacy for people who just want to know that they have health care for themselves and their families. that's a pretty basic thing. i want to thank you, senator murphy, for your vigilance in speaking out and being here and talking about really what is at stake. you know, i was thinking about there is an ad. you have heard the ad before on tv that says something like new car, $30,000. new house, $150,000. peace of mind, priceless. peace of mind, priceless. what we're talking about here in terms of access to affordable health care, getting what you're paying for, knowing you can't get dropped just before you -- just because you get sick, knowing that your child with juvenile diabetes can get care even though that would be viewed as a preexisting condition, that's peace of mind. i can't imagine how scary it must be to sit in a doctor's office and have the doctor come in and say you have canc

senator stabenow. >> thank you very much mr. chairman and first i want to welcome you to your decision. it's wonderful to see you in a position i look forward to the basketball games between you and mr. secretary welcome to you as always. we are happy to have you down at the end of the table so we appreciate you being on the committee. a couple of things. i want to start by saying given everything that has happened at the iras i am pleased that you finally have the presidents person since the iras just for the record was operating under president bush's irs commissioner through all of this. and realizing there are legitimate questions and we certainly want things to go well. i'm glad for the last couple of months we have confirmed the president's team and i'm confident that going forward this will be addressed in a fair way. i just want for the record to say under which we are operating and secondly i think we are always going to have this debate about how to improve the economy and just for the record also legitimate difference

senator stabenow. >> thank you, mr. chairman. first, i want to welcome you to that position and look forward to the basketball games. mr. secretary, welcome as always and to the senator from virginia, we're happy to have you, down at the end of the table. we appreciate you being on the committee. a couple of things, in addition to my questions, i want to say given everything that happened at the irs, i want to say you finally have the president's person since the irs, just for the record, was operating under president bush's irs commissioner through all of this and realizing there are legitimate questions and we all certainly want things to go well, i'm glad in the last couple of months we've finally been able to confirm the president's team and i'm confident going forward this will be addressed in a fairway. i just want for the record to say which we were operating. secondly, we're always going to have this debate about how to move the economy. just for the record also, legitimate differences, but i'm for whatever works. i'm sur

>> i'm not sure that that decision has come to meet yet. >> senator stabenow? >> thank you very much mr. chairman. first i want to welcome you to your position. it's wonderful seeing you in that position and i look forward to the basketball games between the two of you. mr. secretary, welcome as always after the senator from virginia, we are happy to have you at the end of the table, so we appreciate you being on the committee. a couple things in addition to the question i want to start by saying that given everything that has happened at the irs, i am pleased that you finally have the president's person since the irs for the record was operating under president bush's irs commissioner through all of this. and realizing that there are legitimate questions and we all want things to go well. i'm sure the last couple of months we have been able to confirm the president's team invite you confident that going forward that this will be addressed in a fairway. i just want to for the record say under which we were operating. second, i think it's -- we are always going

he won his seat in the 2000 election after it was vacated by now senator, debbie stabenow. you can find his appearances online in our video library at www.c-span.org. on monday night, a conversation with the three journalists chosen by edward snowden to receive top-secret nsa files. porter's,nwald, laura and barton gillman, appeared at the secret and sources conference via skype for foreign countries. it was held earlier this month. two of them have not returned to the united states since breaking their stories with edward snowden, because they say they fear arrest or being subpoenaed. they discuss the impact of the edward snowden documents primetime monday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span. a discussionnext, a discussion e reasons behind terrorism. the representatives of national basketball association talk about sports and diplomacy. after that, the executive director of the american legion on veterans benefits claims. there's a course on terrorism and communications at the university of central florida. he wrote a book on the topic and taught at a base in belgium. his rese

senator klobuchar, debbie stabenow and other women in the senate, yourself, you're here tonight. it's numbers that matter. number, numbers, numbers. i don't see the roar in the streets for something that seems to me an easy one for democrats, for progressives, for women, which is raise the minimum wage. your thoughts? >> my thoughts are, a lot of the times you might not hear the noise, but it's what people are talking about. these are meat and potatoes issues and it's something that women care about. you know that you talked about the number of people across the country who support the minimum wage. you also know that 60% of the women, 60% of the households, women-led households are either primary winners or co-winners, co-you know, making the money for the families. when we increase a minimum wage, we're helping them help their families. so i don't think it's that -- it is something that people don't care about. they might not be as vocal. it is something i know people care about in maryland a lot. we've had rallies. unions have been here in maryland. so this is something that i

stabenow: thank you very much, mr. president. first, like everyone else, i want to congratulate our leader on this issue and on so many issues, including having the right kind of appropriations process to invest the dollars that americans work hard to earn, to make sure they're invested in ways that help families, children, to help the middle class to be able to succeed in this country. i want to thank senator barbara mikulski, the senior senator from maryland. her work on this issue, the child care and development block grant, has been extraordinary. it has been bipartisan, as all of her work is. and she is laser focused on doing those things that create opportunities for children and families to succeed. i think all of, certainly the women that are speaking today and hopefully all of our colleagues understand, mr. president, that quality affordable child care is not a frill. i realize that the presiding officer has wonderful children as well and understands that this is a necessity. if we care for our children, if we want to ma

senator stabenow and then senator baldwin. >> thank you very much and congratulations again on chairing the committee. we look forward to working with you. i do want to take a few moments because it's a perspective not represented here today to talk about not only the u.s. energy revolution but the fact that we also need to make sure that it is part of the u.s. manufacturing revolution. we know we have been talking a lot about signals today, sending signals overseas and it's also important to send a signal to american manufacturers are looking at bringing jobs home because of low energy prices to make sure that if there is a signal for them as well, the low energy prices that you have been talking about are really making a difference in terms of creating jobs here at home and with manufacturing. so i welcome each of you and we have the minister welcome each of you as well. but it is important for the record that there was a study by charles river associates and we found that by using our own low-cost natural gas to increase american manufactured output is twice as valuable to our overal

stabenow: thank you very much, madam president. one of the true spots -- bright spots in our economy right now has been and continues to be manufacturing. manufacturing jobs have been on the rise over -- we have over 12 million americans now who are employed, who have good-paying jobs in the manufacturing sector, many of them in my own great state of michigan. this renaissance in the kind of good-paying jobs that built the middle class of this country is being powered in a significant way by american natural gas. american natural gas. more than $100 billion in investments, in more than 120 different manufacturing projects is being fueled by abundant, affordable, american natural gas. these are great new opportunities for people to go to work, have a other good-paying job, and to be able to have opportunities for their families. our country is truly blessed with this natural resource. it's drilling that -- critical that we continue putting our american natural gas to work, creating american jobs. which is why i am confused and conce

stabenow: thank you, madam president. there are currently 89 judicial vacancies in federal courts across the country, including four on the district court for the eastern district of michigan. two of these are considered emergency vacancies because they have been vacant for over 19 months. with so many vacancies, the case backlog isn't getting any smaller. it's a real problem. and the good news is that today we have an opportunity to vote to move forward on four excellent nominees to fill vacancies in the courts. our michigan nominees are highly qualified and represent some of the best legal minds we have. three of the nominees are sitting judges. the other nominee is currently in private practice at one of michigan's top law firms. throughout the confirmation process, they have all proven to be thoughtful and prudent stewards of the law. so not only are they excellent nominees, but, madam president, they are ready to go to work. let me just tell you about each of them. first, judith levy has served as an assistant u.s. a

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

senators as follows -- reid of nevada, mccaskill, gillibrand, baldwin, rockefeller, cardin, leahy, stabenow, blumenthal, coons, mikulski, boxer, tester, begich, cantwell, schumer and feinstein. mr. reid: madam president? madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: we expect to have -- mrs. boxer: the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. reid: we expect the next vote will be the next vote until monday. next roll call vote. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion. we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, hereby move to bring to a close the debate on s. 1917, a bill to provide for additional enhancements of the sexual assault, prevention and response activities of the armed services. 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 debate on s. 1917, a bill