roberts: senator stabenow. sen. stabenow: thank you, mr. chairman. had the same conversations with the secretary of agriculture about the process. they were indicating about 80% of the farmland is owned by the government. about 20% by the private sector. i said, can we sell to the 20%? no. it has to all go through the same process. there's a lot of change that needs to occur. i do want to stress that we have tremendous opportunities. senator leahy was talking about products in new zealand. they are getting powdered milk from new zealand.

roberts: senator stabenow. sen. stabenow: thank you, mr. chairman. had the same conversations with the secretary of agriculture about the process. they were indicating about 80% of the farmland is owned by the government. about 20% by the private sector. i said, can we sell to the 20%? no. it has to all go through the same process. there's a lot of change that needs to occur. i do want to stress that we have tremendous opportunities. senator leahy was talking about products in new zealand. they are getting powdered milk from new zealand. milk producers would be happy to abide. others would as well. we are a whole lot closer. potatoes and beans and a whole range of things are available. apples seem to be a delicacy at christmas time. i said, we can give you christmas every day. we have a lot of opportunities. let me ask undersecretary scuse. there is an expression that says, the first step to achieving success is showing up. i think that is really true on trade. also, our ability to market. you mentioned the market access program and the other tools a

miss stabenow. miss stabenow aye. miss cantwell no. mr. nelson. >> mr. nelson aye. mr. menendez aye. mr. carper no. mr. cardin. mr. cardin aye. mr. brown. mr. brown aye. mr. bennett. mr. bennett aye. mr. casey. mr. casey aye. mr. warner. mr. warner no. mr. chairman? >> no. >> the chairman votes no. mr. burr. mr. burr no. >> the clerk will report. >> mr. chairman, the final tally is eight ayes, 18 nays. >> the amendment is not agreed to. >> mr. chairman. >> senator brown. >> i'm down to my last two amendments, mr. chairman, you'll be glad to know. beyond that i'm not responsible for the lateness of the evening. the first amendment is number 52. first amendment's number 52. >> okay. >> and i'm not committed to doing them consecutively. senator cardin has some amendments -- i'll start with 52. this amendment says that congress should identify by a vote in finance and ways and means that an agreement has met the negotiating objectives as spelled out in fast track. certification occurs within 90 days of the president sending the agreement up. if the vote fails in either comm

stabenow: mr. president, i would ask success speption suspension of the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. stabenow: mr. president, i would first ask that the pending motion be set aside and that my motion be sent to the desk. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from michigan ms. stabenow, moves that the managers on the part the senate at the conference on the greeing votes of the two houses on the house amendment to the resolution s. con. res. 11 be instructed to insist that -- ms. stabenow: mr. president i skilled to dispense with the reading. -- skilled to dispensereading i would ask to dispense with the reading. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. stabenow: my motion would instruct conferees to remove from the budget resolution any medicare cuts that would increase out-of-pocket costs for senior citizens, eliminate garnetted benefits or make structural changes to medicare by turning it into

senator stabenow: thank you for the hearing. when we are talking about trade we always need to start by saying we are in a global economy, we know we are going to trade. this is about whether we are exporting a product or jobs. it's a question of policy. we either have something that means we strengthen the middle class and it's a race to the top and we bring other countries with us, workers with us, or a race to the bottom. i will never forget sitting in greenville, michigan, with a company that was making refrigerators a number of years ago, we were trying all kinds of ways to keep them in west michigan. finally they turned to us and said you can't compete with $1.57 an hour in wages, sorry. we can't be erased down to that. this has got to be a race up. fundamentally when we are talking about fast track, let's talk about fast tracking the middle class so that we can make it a race up. one of those issues is very much currency manipulation plays. i know my colleague, senator schumer, is talking about this. and others are talkin

. >> senator stabenow what senator landrieu said needing a candidate for the future that seems to be part of the problem she's having with the liberal base. they don't see her as the future they see her as the past. they see elizabeth warren as someone who fires them up and stands for liberal ideals. why is that? why is that not hillary clinton's area that she's doing well in? >>ing well dana first of all, elizabeth is terrific and hillary and elizabeth and i and all of us mary when she was doing a terrific job in the senate all understand it's very much about the future. i have to say, electing the first woman president would certainly be a big step in the future and hillary's also part of a special new club i'm proud to be a part of, mary is as well called the grandma's club. i have to tell you, once you have that first grandchild. i'll never forget 2007 in the middle of an incredibly hectic time she took the time to call me and con grate two late me. i got there before she did. once you hold that baby you are all about the future. i have absolutely no doubt in my mind she's doubli

roberts: senator stabenow. sen. stabenow: thank you, mr. chairman. i had the same conversations with the secretary of agriculture about the process. they were indicating about 80% of the farmland is owned by the government. about 20% by the private sector. i said, can we sell to the 20%? no. it has to all go through the same process. there's a lot of change that needs to occur. i do want to stress that we have tremendous opportunities. senator leahy was talking about products in new zealand. they are getting powdered milk from new zealand. milk producers would be happy to oblige. we're closer to potatoes and beans and things that are available. apples seem to be a delicacy at christmas time. i said, we can give you christmas every day. we have a lot of opportunities. let me ask undersecretary scuse. there is an expression that says, the first step to achieving success is showing up. i think that is really true on trade. also, our ability to market. you mentioned the market access program and the other tools at the department of agriculture. i wonder

ranking member stabenow and esteemed members of the committee. it's my pleasure to be here today.ant to thank you for inviting me to testify on the challenges and opportunities associated with trade with cuba. i've been studying the cuban market for about 15 years. i've been there a number of time. we continue northern what happens in cuba and how that impacts u.s. agricultural exporters. in fact, our work at texas a&m indicates one u.s. job is created for every $76,000 in u.s. exports to cuba and we think that makes it worthwhile for to us stay engaged on this important issue. just a little bit about background. our exports averaged about 300 million annually since 2002, but they have fluctuated widely from about 140 million in 2002 up to 709 million in 2008 and that uncertainty has been a problem for our businesses. the product mix has also changed. during the first decade of our export experiences with cuba we export ad wide variety of products. along with processed foods. so, a fairly broad array of products up until 2012 when things began to deteriorate. the more recent expor

chairman, ranking member stabenow, esteem esteemed members of the committee. my pleasure to be here. thank you for inviting me to testify on the challenges and opportunities associated of trade with cuba. i have been studying the cuban market for about 15 years been there a number of times. we continue to monitor what happens in cuba and how that i am pacts u.s. agricultural exporters. our work at texas a&m indicates that one u.s. job is created for every $76,000 in u.s. we think that makes it worthwhile for us to continue to stay engaged on this important issue. just a little bit about background. our exports has averaged about $300 million annually since 2002, but, they have fluctuated widely from $142 million in 2002 up to $709 million in 2008. and that uncertainty has been a problem for our businesses. the product mix has also changed. over the last or during the first decade of our export experiences with cuba, we exported a wide variety of products, such as corn coy beans, rice wheat, animal feeds, cotton along with processed foods such as frozen, pork,

we'll turn to senator stabenow and then senator warner.enator stabin now: thank you to the hearing -- senator stabenow: thank you for the hearing. we are in a global economy, we know we are going to tray. this is about whether we are exporting a product or jobs. it's a question ofpolicy. we either have something that means we strengthen the middle class and it's a race to the top and we we bring other countries with us, workers with us, or a race to the bottom. i will never forget sitting in greenville, michigan, with a company that was making refrigerators a number of years ago, we were trying all kinds of ways to keep them in west michigan. finally they turned to us and said you can't compete with $1.57 an hour in wages, soarry. we can't be erased down to that. this has got to be a race up. fundamentally when we are talking about fast track let's talk about fast tracking the middle class so that we can make it a race up. one of those issues is very much currency man national park plays. i know my colleague -- manipulation, i know my coll

senator stabenow? >> thank you, mr. chairman. briefly i want to support the amendment. i do appreciate the additions and the positive pieces of this particular bill. but i do believe that putting in the level at which was in the president president's budget is significant. you know, we're in a global economy. if people are losing their jobs we all have a stake in their having the ability to be re retrained. people want to work. we have a need for folks to be independent and working and contributing and taking care of their families. and from my perspective, making sure that there's adequate funding for people to have a fair shot to do that is very, very important. i support the amendment. and mr. chairman i have one question, though. and that is i've always assumed -- we're assuming that this bill moves with tpa and the other bills. and is that the correct assumption? because it would be very, very unfortunate when we've always moved them together even though there are differences in terms of support and so on. i'm assuming they move together? i wonder if that's a corre

senator stabenow. >> thank you mr. chairman. i have an amendment to straightforward based on a bill that senator lindsey graham and i have had for a number of years now to make permanent the interagency trade enforcement center that's in ustr. this was done by executive order and has demonstrated that in fact they have been good at bringing. enforcement cases but prior to having a separate center of the same people negotiating agreements would again turnaround and put on a different hat and enforced agreements. so this set up with the center we have now heard from ustr that last month they have a report that has 444 pages detailing the trade barriers on businesses and workers and farmers based around the globe so this particular agency is laser focused on addressing that. i would ask colleagues to support this. senator brown is joining me. again this is very straightforward. we have this agency but it has not been set up permanently by law and i think now is the time to do that. i would ask colleagues for support. >> let me say

by the end, i want to thank my colleague and friend debbie stabenow. we celebrate because she is finally completed the journey. we lament because the road was far too long. on the one hand after today loretto lynch will take her place as the helm of the justice department. she will work entirely tirelessly to respect voting rights. i recommended her to the president twice. and then for attorney general ones. she is great. you will see. in brooklyn, when she has the most difficult of cases, she emerged from those cases with both sides. the police and the community praising her. she is terrific. we believe she will do a great job. unfortunately, her day in the sun comes after months and months and months of unnecessary obstruction, and delay. today is a historic day for letter wrench, and -- loretta lynch, but it is a day we should have been celebrating months ago. the hard right spent every day delaying for every reason they could think of except qualifications. she waited longer than the first 54 attorney general's in our nations history combined. this

senator stabenow we are going to try to beat the statutory deadlines that have been put into them formeir bill. it's one of those things -- so the idea that we can get that done and done quickly and get these things in place so we have these up and running and we have eight states up and running for continuing to do the work it takes to implement mental health parity. it's about payment systems. it's about how we implement grant programs which brings me to the gao issue. the gal report there were two fundamental issues we want to hear and take seriously. one has to do with the issue of coordination and making sure we are coordinating across the government. i've asked samhsa and the assistant secretary for planning and evaluation to come together to do that injure an intergovernmental coordination. with regard to the question of the evaluation of quality of grant making it think you all know we have a new acting deputy secretary dr. mary wakefield who is the highest-ranking nurse and the federal government. she comes from herself. her son has made progress with regard to the question o

senator stabenow: i have great respect for you and the process of the committee. and chairman price, appreciate you being here. it's good to have another michigander on the committee. congresswoman, great to see you as well. the budget process is our opportunity to have a debate about our values and priorities. that's really what it is. we should ask ourselves, how do we make sure every american has a fair shot to work hard and succeed. that's really, i would hope, the goal of what we do in terms of a budget. in other words how to make sure everybody's got a chance at what we have always called the american dream. to me the answer is clear, to make sure our country's budget works for the middle class and those who are working hard to get into the middle class. unfortunately, the republican budgets passed by the house and senate do not do that. now, there is some good news in the economy and deficit. we are not hearing that much today. but there is in fact, good news, when the president took office we were in the biggest hole we have seen since the great depression

she's talking to debbie stabenow and sees rand paul coming. like, do i need to get this there?ou guys seeing this? i love the body language there. i love c-span. i love c-span every single day. and senator elizabeth warren is here for the interview tonight, to talk about not the rand paul fist bump, but if she wants to, i won't stop her. that's still ahead. >>> we are rich in the news right now in the category of big things that have not yet happened, they are likely to happen, but we're not certain they will, and if they do happen, it will be a very big deal. case in point, there's loretta lynch. president obama nominated her to be attorney general last november. she has been waiting for a vote ever since. we have heard senate majority leader mitch mcconnell promise multiple times he was going to hold a vote on loretta lynch's nomination, but despite those promises, he has so far never done it. and this is the longest period any attorney general candidate has ever waited at this stage in their nomination. well, once again now, we have been promised by mitch mcconnell that ther

next is senator crapo followed by congressman black followed by senator stabenow. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i also want to join us to join us with commend it to you and representative price for coming together and frankly getting us to the point where we are going to for the first time in years, have a budget in this congress. those in the senate on the senate budget committee have heard me in the past expressed my disappointment in our budgeting process because we never seem to get to year two. we always make a hard decision in the years to make either no decisions in the early years were very weak ones. i've complained a lot that we have to start getting ourselves to year two, three four five and six of the budget vote over. not only have not only having recently gotten gotten into a problem with your two, we haven't even gotten into year one. now chairman, you are helping us get there in your making tough decisions in year one and i commend you for that and appreciate you for doing that. we must deal with our national debt. senator sessions indicated one of his constituents tol

she's talking to debbie stabenow and sees rand paul coming. like, do i need to get this there? are you guys seeing this? i love the body language there. i love c-span. i love c-span every single day. and senator elizabeth warren is here for the interview tonight, to talk about not the rand paul fist bump, but if she wants to i won't stop her. that's still ahead. anyone have occasional constipation diarrhea, gas, bloating? yes! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these occasional digestive issues... with 3 types of good bacteria. live the regular life. phillips' look like this. feel like this. look like this. feel like this. with dreamwalk insoles, turn shoes that can be a pain into comfortable ones. their soft cushioning support means you can look like this. and feel like this. dreamwalk. >>> we are rich in the news right now in the groircategory of big things that have not yet happened, they are likely to happen, but we're not certain they will and if they do happen, it will be a very big deal. case in point, there's loretta lynch. president

carrying the bill to lift the embargo and i appreciate the support of senator enzi and flake and stabenow, durbin, leahy and paul. there are other senators. we're adding to our numbers. we know it is going to take a while to get done but that is truly the way, we think you would agree, to have some trade with cuba and actually sell our

the original bill with senators graham and collins and sessions and myself and brown and stabenow. this administration -- senator grass yn grassley has been vocal on this. china's trade economic policy of undermining the global marketplace where major ceos admit to us. they can't say it publicly because they retaliate. shotgun something should be done about it. the appropriate time is now. i urge my colleagues to support this important amendment. >> i thank the senator from new york. i understand his zeal here. to determine whether some measure s a subsidy directly or indirectly to a country's exports. if so, then the sanctions can follow. it teams to provide for trade sanctions that can be based on assumptions without support. it would invite trade sanctions from other countries on the basis of some sorts of pre presumptions presumptions. it would allow so many degrees of freedom in arriving at a subsidy determination including indirect subsidy of undervaluation that it would prove infective. that's my view. i'm concerned about it. it raises the likelihood of trade disputes and tr

i agree and one of the things that senator schumer and senator stabenow mentioned was currency manipulation. i think it needs to be addressed. the curious thing, lts way i read senator schumer's bill this would be a perspective tool but japan wouldn't apply on currency manipulation. there's a question china would. should we add more tools to our tool kit going forward as somebody who lost money -- absolutely stolen our property, absolutely. the knowing of doing nothing right now and continuing status quo would be a disaster for america, vis avis china and the region. i point out to my colleagues i wish senator schumer was still here, most of his argument until he got to currency was in favor -- you could argue in favor of tpa and tpp because clearly america's position has weakened and it seems to be retreating. i point out "the new york times" article on saturday that points out the fact as a congress we have not taken up the imf reforms and not ended up doing export/import bank and we have -- the chinese have started to create a brand-new financial institution and focused on asia and ultim

. >> senator stabenow. >> thank you very much mr. chairman. i think this has been a really important discussion and first mr. beale i want to underscore, when you're talking about cooperatives, they're very positive they have created cooperatives and the ability for more decisions to get made by farmers, although there is more to do as you say to get the government out of that position so that the farmers are the ones really driving the train here. it was interesting to me, as we're talking, mr. kaeler, you're talking about what they're interested in in terms of equipment and tools and so on. we talked a lot about farm equipment and tractors. and the fact that the new decision that the president made was to allow farm equipment and the fact that they had cooperatives, most of them didn't have one tractor. and they were making decisions as to who got a tractor. and how many tractors. and so there is a lot of opportunities for us to be able to expand but i think cooperatives are very much a part of the structure going forward. so i'm glad to hea

with regard to our conversations to you and senator stabenow we'll try to beat the deadlines put in to implement the bill. as everyone knows one year and nine months for me. the idea we can get that done and done quickly and get these things in place so we have those eight up and running and the states -- eight states up and running, but continuing to do the work it takes to implement mental health parody. that's about payment systems, about stigma, about how we implement our grant programs which brings me to the gao issue. in the gao issue i think there were two issues we want to hear and take seriously. one has to do with coordination make sure we're coordinating across government. i've asked samsa and the assistant secretary to come together and do that intraand enter government coordination. with regard to the question of the evaluation and the quality of our grant making, i think you probably know we have a new acting deputy secretary, dr. mary wakefield, the highest ranking nurse in the federal government. she comes from hrsa. hrsa has made a lot of progress with the question of

stabenow, no. mr. nelson. aye. mr. mendez. no. mr. carper. aye. mr. cardin. aye. mr. brown. no. mr. bennett. aye. mr. casey. no. mr. warner. aye. mr. chairman. aye. chairman votes aye. >> report. >> 20 ayes six nays. >> the ayes have it and the resolution is ordered reported. ask consent the staff be granted authority to make technical, conforming and budgetary changes to all the bills reported today and without objection, it is so ordered. before we adjourn, if i could have order. if i could have order. i want to thank all of my colleagues for their participation today. and i especially want to thank senator wyden for his efforts throughout this process. we've worked very closely together and i've really appreciated it. as we noted today was a long time coming and i want to give credit for senator wyden for his leadership and willingness to reach across the aisle on these important issues. while the day didn't go off as well as i planned it we got a good debate and covered a lot of ground. believe me i recognize there are passively held beliefs on all sides of these issues. i comme

. >> senator stabenow. >> thank you much mr. chairman. this has been an important discussion.and first, i want to underscore when you talk about cooperateives in the conversations that i've had with cuban officials first they are very proud they have created cooperateives and the ability for more decisions to be made by farmers although more to do as you say to get the government out of that position so that the farmers are the ones really driving the train here. you talked about what they are interested in in terms of equipment and tools and so on. we talked a lot about farm equipment and tractors and the fact that the new decision that the president made was to allow farm equipment and the fact they had cooperateives, most of them didn't have one tractor and they made decisions who got a tractor and how many tractors. there's a lot of opportunities for us to be able to expand. but i think cooperateives are very much a structure going forward. >> i wonder, because you've had an opportunity to navigate from agriculture and looking at cuba's economy from a broader trading relat

with regard to our conversations with you and senator stabenow and thank you for your leadership, we are going to try to beat the statutory deadlines to implement your bill because it is one of the things when you are nine months -- and so the idea we can get that done and done quickly and get these things in place so we have those eight up and running and the eight states up and running, but continuing to do the work that it takes to implement mental health parity. and that's about stigma, about how we implement our grant programs which brings me to the g.a.o. issue. there was a report, i think there were two fundamental issues that we want to hear. one has to do with the issue of coordination and making sure we are coordinating across the government. i asked the assist tant secretary. with regard to the question of our grant-making abilities and question of evaluation and quality of our grant making, we have a new acting deputy secretary, dr. mary wakefield, highest ranking nurse in the federal government. and she comes from hersa and has made a lot of progress. and we are going to

stabenow: mr. president my motion would instruct conferees to remove from the final budget resolution any medicare cuts that would increase out-of-pocket costs for senior citizens eliminating guaranteed benefits or making structural changes to medicare by turning it into a voucher-based system or premium support system. i think one of our greatest concerns in this budget, among many is the fact that when you add it all up, there are $566 billion in medicare cuts in this senate resolution. shockingly it's more than even the house cut. and so i would urge that we stand with people who have paid in to a health care system that works. they've earned these benefits. they are counting on these benefits and seniors and people with disabilities across the country need to know that medicare is an intact guaranteed health care system for them. i would urge support for my motion. mr. enzi: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. enzi: i'm going to urge my colleagues to reject this

stabenow: thank you mr. president. thank you. mr. president, i think the american people deserve to see the contrast between how nominees were treated last decade during the bush administration versus how they are treated this decade during the obama administration. when former president bush nominated john ashcroft to be attorney general. it was controversial. i was one of 42 democrats who opposed the nomination. and yet it only took 42 days for john ashcroft to get a vote on confirming his appointment because neither i nor other democrats stood in the way and blocked actually having a vote. now, i agree that was a different time where filibusters were not used every single day on every single issue. unfortunately. but i remember at that time when our republican colleagues came to the floor and said elections have consequences, when a president is elected he or she has the opportunity to put forward their nominees and have a vote. and day after day people came to the floor and said just let us vote. just let us vote. and we did. let

stabenow: thank you mr. president. before my prepared comments i do want to thank the senator from rhode island for his passion his leadership in coming to the floor over and over and over again ringing the alarm bells about what is happening not only to our country but our world. we are paying the price in lives, in dollars we are seeing our farmers pay the price because we not have effectively addressed what is happening to our world in terms of climate change. so i want to thank the senator for his continued passion in reminding us over and over and over again why we need to act right now. mr. president, today 350 airmen from michigan along with 12 a-10 war hogs are deploying to the middle east to take part in operation inherent resolve our nation's mission to eliminate the terrorist group known as isil. this deployment has special significance for michigan. michigan is home to thousands of families community leaders with loved ones living in the middle east who have seen firsthand the devastating effect of isil. as

i want to thank senators brown wyden, stabenow, casey and reid for their leadership on this amendment. we have made great strides in recent years to ensure americans of all ages have access to quality health care, but a huge part of the success to increase the access to quality health care comes from chip which provides insurance to low- and moderate-income children and pregnant women. we know chip works. it serves more than eight million children including more than 150,000 in colorado. this is health care they might not otherwise achieve. unfortunately the house failed to take full advantage of this moment and this moment to compromise and extended funding for two years. chip is authorized through 2019. this would extend it for two additional years. the very physicians who would be helped would see increased reimbursement when they treat these children -- the presiding officer: the senator's time has expired. mr. bennet: i yield the floor and ask my colleagues to support the amendment. mr. grassley: mr. president? mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. gras

followed by stabenow's medicare cuts. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. sanders: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: mr. president as i have indicated on many occasions, i think this republican budget is, frankly a disaster. it causes severe harm to some of the most vulnerable people in this country. it throws 27 million people off of health insurance. it forces elderly people to pay more for prescription drugs. it cuts $90 billion in mandatory pell grants at a time when young people are struggling to be able to afford to go to college and pell grants are one of the significant ways that they are able to go to college. $90 billion is cut. it cuts head start significantly, such that 110,000 fewer young children will be able to enroll in head start. it cuts title 1 education program money directed to schools with low-income kids, the schools that need the help the most. at a time when so many of our families are struggling to put food on the table this budget cuts nutrition programs, including the w.i.c. program

reid, senator whitehouse senator hirono, senator shaheen senator mikulski senator brown senator stabenow senator leahy senator bennet senator booker, and i could mention many of my clean colleagues who have joined me in the past in the repeal of the therapy cap that have -- are expressing interest to help in this regard. i hope i'll have their support on this amendment. let's get it done. i think it's important for medicare beneficiaries to know that they're not at risk of losing the opportunity for their physician to treat them under the medicare system. if we don't take care of the s.g.r. problem that's a real, real concern of medicare beneficiaries as to whether their physicians will be available for them. the same thing is true with the therapy caps. let's remove this uncertainty. let's get it fixed. we have the opportunity do that. so i would urge my colleagues to support my effort that's supported by aarp and many of the other outside groups. let's vote for the s.g.r. bill but also vote for the amendment that i will offer with senator vitter that will permanently fix the therapy ca

stabenow: thank you very much madam president. madam president, as we all know, a vote of confirmation for loretta lynch to be our next attorney general has now been delayed 164 days. we're -- for five months, we have seen this qualified woman waiting for a confirmation vote, and we have had at least 51 members, a majority, indicating that they will support her confirmation. now, i remember coming to the floor to listen to colleagues during the bush administration over and over and over again indicating that elections have consequences that presidents have a right to have their nominees voted on, and that that is our responsibility to make sure that if something comes out of committee that we vote on a final confirmation. now, when you look at the fact that we have seen loretta lynch now wait on the floor for a vote combined length of time that equals more than the last seven attorney generals, i really do believe, as the president has said enough is enough. and i remember a time when we had a controversial nominee john ashcroft,