the presiding officer: the senator louisiana. order in the chamber. the senator from louisiana. ms. landrieu: mr. president, i'm going to do my best to start the pace around here. i'm going to ask for a voice vote, and i would hope people would give a shout out for a yea for a narrow exception to a wetlands project for nonprofits with a permit to build. that's what this amendment z there's no opposition. i ask for the yeas and nays. modify amendment -- the presiding officer: the senator wish to modify her amendment? ms. landrieu: yes. the presiding officer: the allot is so modified. ash the amendment is so modified. all time is yielded back. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed. it appears -- the yeas appear to have it. the motion is approved -- the amendment is agreed to. the question is on the kohl amendment 755. two minutes evenly divided. who yields time? the senator from wisconsin. the presiding officer: is there any further debate? all time is yielded back. the question is on the amendment. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed say no. the ayes appear to have i

the work of a senator, if the senator is a hard-working senator, is every day. it's going back to your state and finding out what teachers and principals and superintendents need. and it's going to the hearings. it's talking to the other members and to the chairman, to the ranking member, and to your staff and your staff is getting information from other staffers. not just the committee staff but from other staffers. i just don't want to leave this this -- people with the impression that we work once the bill hits the table. so, mr. chairman -- mr. president, i yield the floor and would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: the presiding officer: the senior senator from ohio. mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent to dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator is recognized. mr. brown: i ask consent that peter wesner, a detailee from the department be given privileges of the floor during consideration of h.r. 2112.

the clerk: the senator new jersey, mr. menendez, for himself and others, proposes an aimed numbered 857 to amendment number 738. mr. menendez: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that further reading be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. menendez: let me speak to this amendment. i offer this amendment along with my distinguished colleague from georgia, senator isakson, to temporarily restore the conforming loan limits that expired -- loan limits that we had under the law that created the opportunity for these abilities to loan at these levels. they expired on september 30 of this year. and in past year extending these loan limits has usually occurred on the t-h.u.d. appropriations bills. as the subcommittee chair on housing, i can tell you that getting our housing market moving again is one of the most important tasks facing our country today because if we don't get that weak housing market moving again, we won't get the kind of robust economic recovery that the american people deserve. histori

the senate had just approved the settlement. our bill paved the way to send her settlement to president obama for his signature. she knew it would mark the end of an historic battle. i called to make sure that she knew the good news. that tougher than nails woman was sitting in her home in montana where the fierce montana winds had dropped the temperature to 17 below zero. 30 years of determination flowed through the tears. she was happy, she was relieved and she was thankful. it was in 1996 that she took a deep breath, gritted her teeth and filed a historic lawsuit seeking justice on behalf of herself and 500,000 individual american indians. at that time, all she wanted was an accounting for what they were owed. her decision changed her life and the lives of every american indian for generations to come. her 15-year court battle resulted in the largest settlement with the government in american history. throughout the years, through painful criticism and general support, she relentlessly led the charge against government misman

lauren, the senator said that the education bill could get to the senate floor. there might be a bipartisan path forward. >> that is the first time we have heard him say that. he mentioned that senator alexander has found an interesting way to move the bill forward. he would not elaborate. he said they think they might be able to do this. this will have to happen after november 8. they have agreed to have an additional hearing november 8 to get rand paul on board. i guess we will have to see. he did not give many details. >> there needs to be a way to put it on the senate floor, bob. he did say that. both sides can offer amendments, but they have to be relevant amendments. does this sound familiar to you? as a way for the senate to work. >> i think is going to be challenging. clearly, they have some type of deal. it is very fascinating. this is something that is moving on capitol hill. he said that he has not spoken to speaker john boehner. it is fascinating that there is a bipartisan legislation moving. senator harkin said he is not very hopeful on the super comm

i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming is recognized. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i listened to the statements made by my colleagues, and i have come to a different conclusion. i think that this nominee is actually the wrong person at the worst time, at a time when unemployment rate is 9.1%, when 14 million americans are looking for work, i would think that the president would want to respond appropriately and nominate someone to lead the commerce department whose record was consistent with the mission outlined for the commerce department. and that mission is to promote job creation, to promote economic growth, to promote sustainable development and improve standards of living for all americans. so i would think that the president would want to nominate someone who has a record of robust job creation. instead, the president has nominated someone whose political advocacy is, in my opinion, detached from the financial hardships facing tens of millions

in 1958, the u.s. senate's official committee report on the alaska statehood act promised alaska that it would be given great latitude to develop its resources. it read -- and i'll quote here -- "some of the additional costs connected with statehood will be met by granting the state a reasonable return from federal exploitation of resources within the new state. in the past the united states has controlled the lion's share of resources and in some instances retained the lion's share of the proceeds. this situation, though, has not proved conducive to development of the alaskan economy. the committee deems it only fair that when the state relieves the united states of most of its expense burden, the state should receive a realistic portion of the proceeds from resources within its borders." that's the end of the quote but there is more to this. skraeufrp interior -- secretary interior fred seaton while in alaska to deliver statements about alaska's statehood. he have said the statement compact reaffirmed alaska'

the senator from california. mrs. boxer: i ask unanimous consent the final 10 minutes of debate prior to noon on the mccain amendment number 739 be equally divided between senator mccain and myself or our designees. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. boxer: to lead us off on this very important amendment and to explain why it's important to not support the mccain amendment is a -- is a senior member of the environmental public works committee, and a great member of that committee and a great supporter of the environment and transportation, senator cardin of maryland. i yield him six minutes. mr. cardin: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: let me thank mrs. boxer for her works on the environment and public works committee. she has stood up for legislation to allow to us rebuild our infrastructure in this country, to create jobs and make america competitive. i rise today to oppose the mccain amendment and let me give you three reasons why. first, jobs. second, the tr

typical sense of the senate resolution. the sense of the senate resolution that harry reid introduced 89 days ago turned out to be sharply partisan. it was written by majority leader reid and contained this preamble. congress makes the following findings. "the wall street journal" reports median pay for chief financial officers of s&p 500 companies increased 19% to $2.9 million last year. over the past ten years, the median family income has declined by more than $2,500. 20% of all income earned in the united states is earned by the top 1% of individuals. over the past quarter century, four-fifths of the income gains accrued to the top 1% of individuals. then senator reid got to the point. it is the sense of the senate that any agreement to reduce the budget deficit should require that those earning $1 million or more per year make a more meaningful contribution to the deficit reduction effort. now, i wish we lived in a world where we could be surprised that every republican in the senate voted against that resolution. but w

the roll. quorum call: a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama -- mississippi, i'm sorry. mr. wicker: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wicker: and i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wicker: i rise this evening to call attention to the disturbing developments in sudan and the newly created nation of south sudan. i fear the ongoing violence there risks undermining the progress that has been made for lasting peace after decades of civil war and bloodshed. it has been indeed a historic year for the people of south sudan. almost three months ago on july 9, south sudan was formally recognized as a sovereign nation, becoming africa's 54th state. an overwhelming 98.8% of south sudanese voters chose independence from the central government of sudan in the referendum held this january. for the millions of people whose lifetimes have known only war, the hope

the roll. quorum call: a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: i ask suspension of the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. stabenow: thank you very much. mr. president, i rise to speak in opposition to the coburn amendment number 791 and i'm pleased to be joined on the floor by my good friend and colleague and ranking member, senator robert. and let me start by saying that in the context now of addressing a very large deficit that we know that needs to be addressed and in the context of the work being done by colleagues and what's been called the super committee, i'm very proud of the fact that senator roberts and i and our colleagues, the chair and ranking member of the house agriculture committees have come together working very, very hard. different regions of the country, different issues that we bring to the table, and we've agreed on on an overall reduction number that we've recommended as agriculture's portion of deficit reduction. we've already done deficit reduction, i have to say, we've already seen cuts

the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: as always, i listened with interest to my friend and colleague from illinois, and i didn't come to the floor with my colleagues to discuss that particular issue, but, you know, it's interesting the justification for the bailout of general motors and chrysler when the fact is that there are thousands of small businesses and companies all over america that had to go into bankruptcy but didn't get the bailout that was favorable to the trade unions. why couldn't -- why couldn't general motors have gone into bankruptcy the way everybody other company and corporation has had to do in hard times, restructure and then go back into business again? but instead, this administration and my friend from illinois seem to favor the trade unions who obviously got very favorable treatment rather than the normal bankruptcy procedures, which unlike the favored trade unions, and car -- automobile corporations were able to get which thousands of small businesses and companies all over america were u

we're going to have another shot on the senate floor. let me remind my colleagues. 55 times in this congress, the t majority has chosen to fill the amendment meaning no majority member has the opportunity to amend legislation. how can i feel good about a concave mark a process that foug days after i physically can't aid under six e. page bill wheno the caveat that i've given you still have another opportunity to do it on the floor. the maybe, maybe not. i don't think the chairman can t make the assurance to me that we're going to have an open rule on the senate floor that allows unlimited amendment. if you can, i will yield to him for that consent. >> it's about your pay grade.ha, it's about 92. won the reality is civil made by the chairman or the ranking member and it really won't be made because somebody's trying tol. perfect the bill. ago now, i learned a long time ago screaming -- that doesn't do any good.ller it wakes people in they. people think it must be important. this is about her kids.educion this is about whether k-12 educatio

the u.s. senateng back in momentarily to resume deliberations on three spending bills rolled into one. they include agriculture, commerce and the justice and science, transportation, housing and urban development. the senate considering amendments to the legislation. leader reid yesterday introduced the first of several parts of the president obama's jobs plan. the senate is coming in now. we will take you to the senate floor here on c-span2. mr. casey: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: thank you, mr. president. i'm -- i would ask consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. casey: mr. president, i just have a short presentation to make regarding trade adjustment assistance, which of course is legislation that was passed through the senate not too long ago, and there was a long debate, an important debate, about trade adjustment assistance, which is basically a program that we've had in place for decades that r

quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: i ask unanimous consent to dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. i appreciate -- appreciate the presiding officer's comments earlier in support of the currency exchange rate oversight act of 2011. the presiding officer and i both democrats joined by five republicans and three other democrats, were the prime sponsors of the currency exchange rate oversight act of 2011. it passed last -- the motion to proceed -- we have rules in the senate that are sometimes a bit unpen trafnlt but the motion to proceed passed last night with 79 votes out of 98. so there's clear interest in this body debating one of the most important jobs bills that we've seen in front of us in our five years in the senate. almost five years in the senate. i think i've never seen a bill passed that was this -- i've not seen in my time here a jobs bill passed this overwhelmingly, this bipartisanly that was this important for putting people bac

biden, i always call him senator biden, talk about the fact that -- [laughter] we heard senator biden talk about the lasts of our first responders but harold, that can't take into consideration the bad to have their cutbacks and what they're making now. cutbacks in the ben fitteds. that's happening as we speak. this legislation's important. it's important for our communities, for our families and we must go forward from today on recognizing that not only do we have the support of the american people we have the support of republicans throughout the country. [cheers and applause] >> thank you mr. leader. it now is my privilege to introduce a long time advocate of public sector workers who has always fought hard to ensure that american dollars, tax dollars go to funds for priority, education, law enforcement, fire and emergency medical service protection. he is persuasive. he is tenacious. and he is one of the very best whips in the history of the united states. and i am glad he's on our side. please welcome the honorable senator from illinois,

to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable sheldon whitehouse, a senator from the state of rhode island, to perform the duties of the chai. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. rye reid mr. president? the presiding officer: the distinguished majority leader. mr. reid: thank you, mr. president. i have the rare opportunity today to introduce and say a few words about the gest chaplain. -- about the guest chaplain. reverend chaney has just delivered, as usual, an eloquent invocation. reverend chaney is originally from south carolina, but for the last two years has led his flock at the second baptist church in las vegas, one of the older, extremely well-established, large churches in las vegas, nevada. he's a man who's involved in the community, very, very deeply. he serves on the board of the urban league and the naacp, but in addition to his service in the spiritual line, he's also served as a patriot in our nation's armed services. he has served in the navy for four years, as has our chaplain,

the senator from rermt. mr. leahy: i ask unanimous consent notwithstanding the two hours, it's now 12:10, that the two hours be deemed as having begun at 12:00 so that the first vote will be at 2:00. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: and with the time equally divided as under the normal agreement. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: and that the time on quorum calls be equally divided. the presiding officer: also without objection. mr. leahy, we are vote today on three of the 33 judicial nominations favorly reported by the judiciary committee and the senate will complete action on the nominations that are part of the unanimous consent agreement reached three weeks ago prior to the last recess. i do want to thank the majority leader for pressing at that time for senate votes on all 27 of the judicial nominations then on the executive calendar. fortunately, the republican leadership would -- unfortunately, the republican leadership would only agree to vote on 10 of those long-sta

use responsible to the entire senate. -- he was responsible to the entire senate. he had to be something of an expert on every issue. that means afghanistan, pakistan, egypt, libya. so just to put it in real terms, as a member of the committee, senator kerry spend 20% of his time on foreign policy. as chairman, he spends 50% of his time on committee related work. but i think the one thing that is important is that when he is not in the senate, when they are in recess, he spends a lot of time on the road traveling to such vacation spots as afghanistan, pakistan, the middle east, and darfur. as a son of a foreign service officer, he really believes that in order to understand a country you have to know it. you have to make contact with the people and visit and listened to foreign leaders and see it for yourself. he used to say to me that good diplomacy requires the ability to see another country through their eyes and their history. and i think the foreign travel component is especially important to any chairman of a committee that handles foreign policy. after 2004,

to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable jeanne shaheen, a senator from the state of new hampshire, to perform the duties of the chai. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: the senate will be in morning business for one hour. the majority will control the first half. the republicans will control the final half. following morning business, the senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to s. 1619. the senate will recess from 12:30 to 2:15 today to allow for our weekly caucus meetings. at 2:30, the senate will begin consideration of s. 1619, which is the china currency legislation -- that's how it's referred. roll call votes are possible during today's session. we'll notify senators when they're scheduled. and i would hope that senators, both democrats and republicans, will want to offer amendments, and would contact the managers of the bill. we need to get these amendments moving as quickly as possible. hopefully on most of t

upholding the precedents of the senate. and one by one, democratic, members of this body had to of march down and vote to overrule the parliamentarian of the senate for the very purpose of shutting down the chance to offer one single amendment. when the majority leader well knew he had the votes to win, but our rules have i thought they designed it and i think our society is designed around the concept that the minority has an opportunity to be. the minority has an opportunitys to be heard in this body of all bodies. and what we have done tonight, unless we can remove that if we have changed the rules of the senate on a messaging though, oj a matter that the majorityor leader had the vote fund. my and so, that is my objection. that is why i am so disturbed on about the overreaction and heav. handedness of this move.ter this is not a matter of supporting the leader on one o bill that he wn.ants to get us w of town on.ave this is precedent and we have, unless we can change it, we have forever changed the rights of the majority

the senate will be in order. the senator from montana. mr. baucus: mr. president, what's the regular order? the presiding officer: two minutes of debate equally divided. mr. baucus: i thank the chair. mr. president, we're now voting on the panama f.p.a., to provide lucrative new opportunities for america's farmers. panama -- the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. take your conversations out of the chambers. the senator from montana. mr. baucus: it will level the playing field for american exporters. it will do a lot of stuff. let me tell you what it is all about. basically, mr. president, we have -- we accept virtually all of panama's products duty free, virtually. panama has significant tariffs on u.s. products going into panama. this is really a free trade agreement. it's a freebie. i urge members to vote for this. it's good for america so now we can export more products to panama with this agreement. the presiding officer: who yields time? the senator from iowa. mr. brown: i rise to speak against this agreement. if we just wanted to get ri

in the senate is about to gavel in for the week. bout an hour of general speeches. at 3:30 p.m. to start discussion on whether to move forward on a bill setting sanctions on china if it manipulates its currency. at 4:30 p.m. judicial nominations with votes plan for of30 p.m. eastern.esiding live coverage now with the senate here on c-span2. will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. holy father, we come into your presence today to look at ourselves as we are and to seek your power to become what you would have us be. search our hearts and empower us to do your will. encourage our lawmakers to fulfill your purposes for the glory of your name. move, mightily in their hearts and align them with your kingdom perspective. as blessings flow when your will is done, let us not take credit for what your sovereign hand accomplishes on our behalf. today and through the days of this week, call us to you that we may be transformed from mere followers to true servants of your kingdom. we pray in your everlasting name. amen. the pre

barry black will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. ternal lord god, your infinite greatness compels us to give you praise. today, we ask that you would help our senators to reach their full ethical and spiritual stature by deepening their sense of the stewardship of all that they have and are, by the power of your spirit within them. lord, our challenging times demand such ethical and moral fitness so that problems can be solved with a collaborative and courageous spirit. like streams of flowing water through our common days, you continue to refresh us with your merciful goodness. make us worthy of your generosity, as we strive daily to please and honor you. we pray in your holy name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: was

chair of the committee, senator leahy, the ranking member, senator grassley, in strongly endorsing and supporting this nomination of steve higginson to join the fifth circuit court of appeals. thank you, mr. president. i yield back my time. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. grassley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i would like to have my remarks put in the record as if in morning business. the presiding officer: in the senator could please move the vitiation of the quorum call. mr. grassley: i ask that request. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: mr. president, on friday a week ago, secretary of h.h.s. made a very important announcement regarding one specific provision of the patient protection and affordable care act. secretary sebelius announced that the administration would no longer be implementing the community living assistance services and support act, the acronym class applies to that part of that health care bill. she said, and i quote -- "whe

that the senate passed senate 925, that the senate agreed to senate concurrent resolution 32, that the senate passed senate 270, senate 292, senate 333, senate 334, senate 404. that the senate passed without amendment h.r. 489, h.r. 765. with best wishes i am. signed sincerely, karen l. haas. the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir, pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on october 20, 2011, at 10:50 a.m., that the senate passed senate 894. with best wishes i am. signed sincerely, karen l. haas. the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir, pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on october 20, 2011, at 5:42 p.m. that the senate passed senate 1412. that the senate passed without amendment h.r. 1843, h.r. 1975, h.r. 2062, h.r. 2149. with best wishes i am, signed sincerely, k

[inaudible conversations] >> the senate meets at 10 a.m. to continue debate today on a bill to allow sanctions against countries that money to their currency. >> governor barbour spoke yesterday about the 2012 election. republican strategy, the economy and job creation. john harris, the cofounder and editor-in-chief of political moderated this hour-long discussion. >> good afternoon and welcome to leading authority on what went program conversations with power. just today's program is being a broadcast by c-span. i want to express my appreciation to governor barbour for joining us today, and to john harris, politico, for moderating today's discussion. a lot has happened in the world since we met in july on the economic front, president has announced his jobs bill. the stock market has just turned in its were scored since the financial crisis of 2008 and is now approaching bear territory. the latest weekly gallup poll shows the president's rating, approval rating at 43%. this is behind every american president, john f. kennedy forward with th

for us to be able to come together in the senate, in the kind of spirit that senator bennet was talkingabout, democrats and republicans, to say look, here's something that works. we know it works. it was proven by chairman baucus' recent hearing. we now know based on the v.a.'s important new study with respect to how you can care for older people at home that we have an opportunity to significantly expand, care for older people at home in this country and generate significant budget savings. it will be backed. bipartisan. it's something that ought to be picked up by the super committee. it ought to be picked up by both the full senate and the full house, and we need to do it now. if we don't do it now, if this is put off yet again after chairman baucus' important hearing, has once again opened the door to major reform, as sure as the night follows the day, congresses five, ten years from now will be debating exactly the same thing. i don't think that's right. holding down health care costs does not have to mean benefit cuts or cuts to reimbursement. we have got a chance with this indepe

what is the senate doing? t are they doing to help the american people. and my question is i believe the president a second chance because everybody deserves a second chance. host: william in johnson city, tennessee. we'll leave it there. guest: the comment he is referring to was made by senator mcconnell. and he said he would like to see the president be a one-term president. of course he believes that. it does speak about how politicized the senate has become and both parties, democrats worked hard to diminish president bush while he was president as much as possible. and that's part of the issue we are dealing with is that the world's greatest deliberative body has gotten unbelievely political and is one upmansship and who scored more points and less about getting legislation through and working through to solve problems. they will say that's not true, this legislation doesn't reflect our views. guess what? the best legislation that ever comes out of the senate is one both parties don't like. host: the democ

the senate--the senator that mccarthy replaced, the one that got him into the senate, was his underdog campaign against robert la follette jr. c-span: how old was he when he was elected? >> guest: well, there's two versions to that. again, mccarthy's skill in playing with the--in playing with the truth--he was, actually, in fact, the youngest senator when he took off--when he took office in--in 1947. he would've been--well, let's see, he was born in 1909. he would've been (makes noise) 38. but just to make sure that people understood that he was, in fact, the youngest senat--senator, in his official biography, he knocked off a year--lopped off a year from his birth date to make himself even younger, to appear as sort of fresh, young blood the young maverick arriving in the us senate. c-span: elected first in 1946... >> guest: yes. c-span: ...took his seat in 1947. who controlled the senate? which party? >> guest: then, it was the republicans. it was a stunning coup that had really taken place in the sense of a change from democratic dominance of all the branches of government since ro-

to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable richard blumenthal, a senator from the state of connecticut, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will be in morning business until 4:00 p.m. today. following that morning business, senate will begin consideration of h.r. 2112, which is the vehicle for the agriculture, commerce, state, justice and transportation appropriation bills. at 5:15, the senate will be in executive session to consider the nomination of cathc bissoon to be united states district judge for the western district of pennsylvania. at 5:30 p.m., there will be a vote on that nomination. at 4:00, as indicated here, mr. president, we are going to move to the appropriations bill. i understand there are a number of amendments on both sides that are available to be offered. i hope senators would come and offer them as quickly as possible. w

that's all i would say. >> i will problem recognize the senator. let's keep in mind, for 95% of all of the schools in the state, they can do what senator alexander says. we're only talking about that bottom 5% of which we are focusing federal intervention. you can be opposed to that, but i thought that was for the essence of the heart of this bill was to focus on that bottom 5%. we're not talking about all the schools. we're talking about the bottom 5%. >> i believe in local control. here's the problem i see, senator alexander, with your amendment. if you have a school that's run poorly, students and administrators do not want to recognize that. i would much prefer to say, i'm going to write my own proposal, and i'm going going to fight, and i'm going to call up my own senator, and i hope my proposal is going to get past. what we're doing is opening, i think, a sli slippery slope. because i fear that the vast majority of poorly run schools will use that option. that's my fear. it is the easiest way out. hey, we're not doing that badly. we made some

the senate is done for the day. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> the honorable paul shing and donna shing. [inaudible conversations] >> the honorable jim leech and mrs. elizabeth leech. [inaudible conversations] >> former congressman jim leech there and his wife. he's now chairman of the national endowment for the humanities. >> [inaudible] [inaudible conversations] >> mr. devin horac and mrs. horac. [inaudible conversations] >> mr. lee rosenberg and mrs. nancy rosenberg. [inaudible conversations] mr. rhone gibbson and mrs. margaret dunkin-gibbson. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> mr. dalywong and mrs. wong. [inaudible conversations] ms. sheryl shamberg and michelle francis shamberg. [inaudible conversations] >> sheryl shamberg is the chief operating officer for facebook. >> thomas c. hubbard and mrs. joan magnusson-hubbard. [inaudible conversations] >> general james d. sherman and mrs. thelia lee therman. >> mrs. chang a

i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. atch: madam president, i compliment my colleague for his kind words and good words on the floor. he's a great leader in this senate. the senator from newthe senatorf the truly great people i've met. today we're finally debating trade agreements with panama, colombia and south korea. it's been over four years since each of these agreements was signed. after a burst of international economic engagement under president bush we've witnessed nothing but passive indifference by the 111th democrat-led congress and then in more recent years by the obama administration. by purr porting to support trade and seemingly acknowledge its benefits, the current administration took little concrete action to advance these or any trade agreements for years. in fact, the opposite was true. instead of devising ways to gain their approval, president obama used his time to create excuses for not supporting any of the three agreements. finally, early this year under relentless political pressure from congress

programs 80% of the evenings. senator go has a remarkable legacy. it makes our job at the institute easy. it makes out a job an imperative. we feel strongly and passionate about it. thank you all for coming out. thanks for a great evening. we appreciate your support. [applause] ♪ >> republican presidential candidate michele bachmann is in iowa this weekend for several campaign against -- campaign events. she is in iowa. that is at 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. eastern here on c-span. on monday, a congressional health care caucus to address the uninsured. that is live at 11:30 a.m. eastern on c-span 2. also on monday, harvey levin, the creator of tmz.com. that is live at 1:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span. >> every weekend, let the c-span network to be your source for public affairs. on c-span, it is politics and public affairs events. american history tv on cspan 3 showcasing the people and events that shaped our country. all of them are available at the c-span.org video library. the c-span that works. it is washington your way.

and it came to the senate. and i had been objecting for a decade, and i objected and others objected, and we had a vote. and by the margin of 51-47 it was decided not to amend the patent bill that the house had passed taopbd pass it just -- and to pass it just like the house did, although many people told me that they agreed with me that this medco fix intervening in an ongoing litigation should not occur, but changing the patent bill would he send it back to the house -- changing the patent bill would send it back to the house and endanger the passage of the bill. so i was disappointed there. but what we've discovered is that the litigation continues. it is now before the u.s. court of appeals. the court of appeals is taking arguments on a number of issues that relate to this. and it's a very real problem. it's a matter that ought to be decided by the courts, not politicians. and if some special relief act is to be utilized, and sometimes those can be, they can't be utilized while a party still has litigation o

i went to the united states senate and i found the lord. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] and id i did it in the one of te most casual ways. ended up going to a bible study by an amazing creature by the name of lloyd josn. . karen and i became on fire with our faith. as a result of that, i decided that i had a purpose of being in the senate. i was not quite sure what it was. and then there was this bill that ce up called partial birth abortion. and i looked at this and i sai you know, i am a senator from pennsylvania. it is a tough state. it is the state measure probably keep my head down and do what most folks up here do, check the boxes, but not released up out. and i decided no more. that is why i am here. i went to the floor of the senate and i fought the battle. i fought the battle on overturning president clinton's veto on the partial birth abortion ban. i fought in 1996 and again in 1998 and again in 2000. and then the supreme court struck down

the first is the timing. senatorieberman was very eloquent in his concerns about the timing of this bill with the super committee working on these issues in a larger context, getting ready to report out within the next month or so. and senator corker made a very valid point that i hadn't really thought about, and that is we have worked -- and i've been one of those who have worked to bring these free trade agreements to conclusion and we have a very short window with the president of south korea arriving this week and hopefully having a free trade agreement passed by the time he makes his presentation to the joint session of congress. there's another issue, and that is the pay-for. we're talking about this millionaire surcharge, this 5.6% that would be put on top of these other tax increases for the millions, quote unquote. in many cases, this isn't even a tax on the wealthiest americans that it's designed to reach. let me preface what i'm going to point out here by saying i believe i have been one of the loudest and

is that the way the senate works? that we don't bring bills to the floor unless objectionable -- that are disagreed with by one side or the other are not resolved? i always believed the way these issues are resolved is through debate, through amendments, through votes, through allowing the american people also to see and hear our deliberations, our discussions, and our debate. so now it appears -- and obviously the fiscal year has expired, and so this bill is obviously long overdue. so now we are in a position that apparently the majority leader wants to take up the president's job bill one by one, apparently, in complete disregard of the needs and the requirements of the men and women who are serving in our national security. part of that bill also is the intelligence parts of the bill from the intelligence committee. the senator from georgia, who i -- and by the way, i note the presence of the senator from south carolina who knows more about detainees than any member of this body without question. he continually trav

i went to the united states senate and i found the lord. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] and id i did it in the one of te most casual ways. ended up going to a bible study by an amazing creature by the name of lloyd josn. hn. karen and i became on fire with our faith. as a result of that, i decided that i had a purpose of being in the senate. i was not quite sure what it was. and then there was this bill that came up called partial birth abortion. and i looked at this and i said, you know, i am a senator from pennsylvania. it is a tough state. it is the state measure probably keep my head down and do what most folks up here do, check the boxes, but not released up out. and i decided no more. that is why i am here. i went to the floor of the senate and i fought the battle. i fought the battle on overturning president clinton's veto on the partial birth abortion ban. i fought in 1996 and again in 1998 and again in 2000. and then the supreme court struc

the president hammered senate republicans today for voting down the americans jobs act. and says that he's just not going to take no for an answer. tonight we'll show you exactly what these republicans voted against, how many jobs this bill would have created in their home states. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >>> the republican minority got together as a group and blocked this jobs bill from passing the senate. >> the president is calling out republicans and promising to keep fighting for jobs. >> we will not take no for an answer. >> alan grayson will preview the next battle. >> that's the 000 approach and >> that's the 000 approach and it's focused on something even ed shultz would love. >> rick santorum thinks i would love his jobs plan. i'll let rick know why he's sorely mistaken. >>> you won't believe what they're trying to pull this time in ohio. >>> and new polling shows herman cain is the new republican front runner. even though he's pushing garbage like this. >> leftist folk in this country that are black, they're more racist than the white people.

he said the senator had to be taken to the hospital. the defense has brought up a number of health issues. when the defense -- when ehrlich was asked about whether he was honest, he said he had always been honest when dealing with him. when asked about his integrity, he said he had always acted with integrity when dealing with him. he also said that a republican governor was unusual and he was looking for friends. prosecutors only have one question for the former governor. did you know that senator ulysses currie was a paid consultant for shoppers? ehrlich replied, no, i did not. >> he said he had little contact with him when he was elected to congress, but when he turned -- returned as governor, he thought he had aged. the defense tried to steer him away when talking about political clashes with the senator. closing arguments could occur tuesday. >> thanks, david. it only took the jury a few hours to deliberate over walter bishop, the accused gunmen in the murder for hire scheme in baltimore county. they found him guilty. >> the jury f

and if it did pass the senate, of course, the house can take it up. my guess is there are a number of democratic senators having serious heart burn about whether or not they want to be for a bill that raises radically raises taxes on job creators in this country. >> i want to talk about taxes here. i want you to respond to something that congressman frank wolf said yesterday about the various pledges many of you have signed when it comes to taxes. here's what he said. >> everything must be on the table. and i believe how the pledge is interpreted and enforced by mr. norquist is a roadblock to realistically reforming our tax code. have we really reached a point where one person's demand for ideological purity is paralyzing congress to the point that even a discussion of tax reform is viewed as breaking a no tax pledge? >> is he right? >> well, i think that if we are serious about doing tax reform, and we should be, i think the best thing that we can do to grow the economy and create jobs is reform our tax code, lower rates on businesses and individuals.

members of the senate want a bill to pass, it will pass, and if 60 members of the senate don't want bill to pass, it won't pass, and it is more time consuming, and ai soup that's why people ran for the -- i assume that's why people ran for the senate rather than the house because they wanted to express themselves. this is a free-wheeling body, and everybody is better off when we operate that way, everybody is whether you're in the majority or the minority because today's minority may be tomorrow's majority, and the country is better off to have at least one place where there's extended debate and whether you -- where you have to reach a supermajority to do things. i i understand the frustration, but you are going to win on this bill. you didn't need a jam us. you shouldn't jam us on any bill, but on this bill, you were going to win. now, some of us think we were wasting our time because as the senator from tennessee said, this was not going to come to law anyway, and we sit here when we should be passing trade bills. the president's asked us to vote on jobs bill. i wanted to give him

president, for the senator from ohio, senator brown, to follow my four hours of remarks. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: mr. president, i support ratification of the free trade agreements that we are debating. they are long overdue. they are important to job creation in this country. while we have waited around, these countries have concluded free trade agreements with other countries, and much to the detriment of american exports. the best example that i can give you is several years ago, 40% of the imports of agricultural products into colombia were from the united states of america. today, only 20% of their agricultural imports are from the united states because while we have been waiting, colombia has concludeed free trade agreements with other nations which have given them access to their markets which we were not able to expanned. one of the ironies of all this is that thanks to a rather complicateed process that took place during president clinton's administration, the andean trade preferences agreements basically resulted that there was tariff