senators ever learned. said the bush administration has this incredible resource here and buy they did not drawn him more frequently and more often it's astonishing. senator hagel is very passionate on the subject, too. he said he was trying to help the president, but no one called very often and it was frustrating. >> can you talk about the lugar by relationship and how that has progressed since senator biden's presidency? >> they were colleagues together for 35 years or so on the foreign relations committee. they have opposite temperaments, as you probably know. senator lugar is quiet and soft-spoken and an does not like to draw a lot of attention to himself. vice president biden is more flamboyant, talkative person. but they have a respect for each other that's very interesting. again, they have this ability to decide what issues they could agree on and to focus on those. they knew when they were things that they did not agree on that they wouldn't harp on it. one of the most interesting moments in that connectio

and he'd be back in the senate. and he said the day is going to come -- and i'm sure it will be soon -- when he will walk those steps. and there will be many, myself included, from both sides of the aisle cheering his return to the united states senate. so for mark, his family, his doctors, medical staff and all, thank you for this battle. thank you for your efforts, on behalf of our state. we look forward to your early return. mark and i have a joint town meeting, republican and democrat, every thursday morning. and the people sit there politely when we discuss issues and love it whaoe disagree because we do it without getting angry wit one another. he'll be back soon not only with those meetings >> richard mourdock was a guest thursday on "washington journal. this is 35 minutes. host: joining us is richard mourdock, who knocked off 36- year senator richard lugar are in the indiana gop primary on tuesday. mr. murdoch, thank you for being with us. if we could, let's start with what we were talking with our audience a

i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. coburn: i ask unanimous consent the pending amendment be set aside and coburn amendment 2131 be called up. a senator: mr. president, i would like to object. how much time is left on the sanders amendment? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont has no time left. the senator from wyoming controls ten minutes. mr. harkin: would the senator from oklahoma withhold? we have some people that want to speak on this. once the time is run, we automatically move on to another amendment and you can bring up the senator's amendment at that point. mr. coburn: it is my understanding the time is under our control. at the present there's ten minutes left. mr. harkin: there's ten minutes in opposition to the amendment. mr. coburn: i'd be happy to yield to the ranking member if he has people that want to speak in opposition. that's fine. har -- mr. harkin: just wanted to speak on this amendment. if we wait five minutes, we can get to that. ms. mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the s

in the senate. e only way that debate from 1806 to 1917, the only way the debate could be ended in the senate is when all the senators decided it was time to vote in the matter. host: tell us if there have been other challenges before. guest: not specifically lawsuits. i'm not aware of any particular time a lawsuit has been blocked before. i'm not a constitutional lawyer. i doubt the supreme court is going to want to jump into the middle of 200 years of senate history and declare the filibuster on constitutional. i think it is pretty straightforward that in article one, the senate has the right to write its own rules. host: richard arenberg, thank you for joining us. guest: good to speak with you. host: it is a matter of history and tradition? guest: let me say to richard, i congress to work with been paul tsongas from massachusetts. i suggest you look at leading the lawsuit which we filed with the federal court. it has much of the history in it as well as an article from the harvard legislative revi

and it's an example of the senate working the way the senate is supposed to work. now, let's be honest about the fact. this is a more partisan country than it was even ten years ago and that partisanship is reflected in the united states senate. there is by any definition a narrower range of views on the republican side of the aisle and a narrower range of views on the democratic side of the aisle. but we still have our job to do. our job is not just to stand up and express our views. if our job was to only stand up and express our views, each one of us would always be right and we wouldn't get anything done. the second part of the job is to take our views, put them together and see if we can get a result. some people say, well, you're interested in bipartisanship. i'm not so interested in bipartisanship. that interests me very little to tell you the truth. i'm interested in results and i learned at at the maryville city schools how to count and you i can count to 60 and it takes 60 votes to get anything done in this senate, it's going to have to take some on that s

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: i move to proceed to calendar number 396, h.r. 2072. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 396, h.r. 2072, an act to reauthorize the export-import bank of the united states and for other purposes. mr. reid: mr. president, we're now on the motion to proceed to the export-import bank reauthorization bill. i ask unanimous consent that the hour following my remarks and those of the republican leader be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: and i would also ask, mr. president, as part of that that the majority would control the first half and republicans the final half. the presiding officer: without obje

to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable tom udall, a senator from the state of new mexico, to perform the duties f the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: i move now to proceed to calendar number 396, h.r. 2072. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 396, h.r. 2072, an act to reauthorize the export-import baipg of the united states and for other purposes. mr. reid: mr. president we're now on the motion to proceed to the ex-im bill. i hope we can pass the bill today. i haven't had an opportunity today to speak to the republican leader, but i'll do that shortly and will decide if there's a way forward on that. so i ask unanimous consent that the next hour be divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees with the majority controlling the first half and the republicans controlling the second half. the presiding officer: w

and he'd be back in the senate. and he said the day is going to come -- and i'm sure it will be soon -- when he will walk those steps. and there will be many, myself included, from both sides of the aisle cheering his return to the united states senate. so for mark, his family, his doctors, medical staff and all, thank you for this battle. thank you for your efforts, on behalf of our state. we look forward to your early return. mark and i have a joint town meeting, republican and democrat, every thursday morning. and the people sit there politely when we discuss issues and love it whaoe disagree because we do it without getting angry with one another. he'll be back soon not only with those meeti is gone because they the are not able to commit themselves in a marriage of a certain point a just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to going ahead and a firm i think a same-sex couples should be able to get married. president obama with abc news. mitt romney speaking in oklahoma city this afternoon reac

the rest of my time. >> thank you very much. yes, representative for three minutes. >> thank you, senator boxer and thank you for the rest of the house and senate colleges for getting the transportation reauthorize bill to conference. i'm hopeful we can report out a bill that all of us can be proud to support. in order for that to happen we're going to have to work in a bipartisan manner and abandon some of the poison pills that have been discussed such as the keystone pipeline and some environmental stream lining provisions. there's bipartisan support for some common sense stream lining measures but the language attached to house to bill goes too far and undercuts deeper. i have some concern on the keystone pipe len and question the benefit to american consumers. that's what the normal environmental review process is supposed to evaluate. that's the administration's objection to this provision and one that should make at it nonstarter for everyone. the senate bill includes the projects of notion, regional significance program that we established in current law. when we wrote safety, we recognized the traditional transportation

the senate bill. one of the things neither bill does is provide a long-term solution to how we will pay for aging infrastructure. we need to come up with solutions. it is very important. a lot of us believe like the senator from new york's said, it is something the federal government needs to be engaged in. i think the longer term bill that is paid for responsibly will best serve all of our constituents. i am ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work. thank you for the opportunity. >> thank you very much. >> thank you, madam chair. i t why for convening this conference committee to reauthorize our transportation service program. i look forward to working with you and our colleagues in a bipartisan matter to put americans back to work. this has been afforded a real opportunity to complete the largest jobs package in the 112th conference. -- congress. we must find common ground to complete this bill lest we waste another season. none of us have ever seen a perfect piece of legislation. this is very goo

now live to the senate floor on c-span2. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal god, sustainer of us all, give today to our senators reverence to realize your presence, humility to know their own needs, trust to ask you for help, and obedience to accept your guidance. remind us all that all great things have their price. may we remember that there is no purity without vigilance, no friendship without loyalty, no joy without service, and no crown without a cross. help us to be willing to pay the price that we may enter into our reward. we pray in your sacred name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance 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: washington d.c., may 16, 2012. to the senate: under the provisions of ru

in fact, i believe the treaty was approved by the senate. the question there was not only one of the remaining nuclear weapons but their capability. it's been certified as required by law the nnsa and laboratories and others have certified that our nuclear stockpile is safe and secure and reliable. how much money you need to continue that in years out is worthy of a debate. it is not debatable unless some of us think we are more qualified than those nuclear physicists to make the determination that they are safe, secure and reliable. we can debate the amount of money and we should. we ought to leave presidential politics out of this. this amendment however severely limits our ability to protect ourselves. this amendment severely limits the ability of the department of defense and our intelligence agencies to engage in discussions in reaching agreements that would fall less than a treaty in their nature. about things that are really important in space. the ranking member clearly laid out a series of agreements that have been reached over time

the floor. mr. graham: senator mccain. the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: isn't it true the president of the united states said it was -- quote -- "unacceptable for the iranians to have a nuclear weapon"? i have a series of questions. mr. graham: yes. mr. mccain: doesn't that mean the united states of america would reserve all options in case of an unacceptable situation where the iranians continue and we have seen no deviation from that path towards the acquisition of a nuclear weapon? mr. graham: the senator is correct. here's what president obama said: all options are on the table when it comes to the iranian nuclear program. israel, i have your back, containment is not an option. i agree with the president. i think he's made the right statements and i'm just trying to reinforce them. mr. mccain: so isn't it true that we're having this debate about whether this amendment or this legislation could be construed as an authorization or opening the door for military action, that the administration's policy is already very clear that it's unacceptable f

majority in the senate. ut it is not just a bipartisan. it is that we need to include them on the merits. any and all concerns that have been raised in regard to the keystone accel pipelined have been addressed. it has been almost four years in the permitting process. the project will create thousands of jobs that will reduce our energy dependence on oil from the middle east and it will help us reduce the price of gasoline at the pump, which have doubled over the last three years and every single american consumer suffers from those high gas prices and certainly our economies that are so slow. u.s. of commerce supports the provision and so does labor. for example, on may 4, richard trumka, afl-cio president says they think were all unanimous by saying we should build the pipeline. warren buffett yesterday on fox business network said i'm not an expert, but it certainly seems like it makes sense to me, and quote. four years is long enough. let's go ahead as an integral part. and i sit alone it takes 500 trucks

the report open until 10:00 a.m. for full statements. we're going to now move to senator bill nelson for three minutes. >> madam chairman, our people are hurting on the gulf. and i think it's indicative that in the senate bill, it was sponsored by seven republicans and two democrats and then when we passed the bill, what is a near miracle in the senate, the vote with 76 to 22. and you wonder how since there are only five gulf states, how did you get the interest of the senators from 45 other states? and it was the very small but an important part, the land and water conservation fund, which is very popular even amonging a a churl interests. all of this cobbled together, allowed us then to have part of the bp fine money, and this could be substantial money, anywhere from what is estimated maybe five billion, all the way up to $20 billion. 20% of that money goes in to the oil spill liability trust fund and/or the treasury, and the 80% is doled out according to a formula that all of these republicans and democrats came up with. and then was embraced by 76 senators. and so i

why won't they even hold hearings in the senate? kent conrad, a moderate, i suppose, the head of the budget committee wanted to at least hold hearings on a budget, maybe the ryan budget, and harry reid wouldn't even let him do that. now, that is an abrogation of senate responsibility. >> you know what? i think if you look at the kind of hearings that are held, let's say in the house. let's look at the issa hearings, for instance. what happens is republicans want to put on a show for their base. they want to call only the kind of people to testify who will testify to their already existing ideology. they aren't hearings. it's a show. so there's no point in doing that. these things even if they were to make it through the senate somehow would be vetoed by the president. >> yeah, but wait -- kim, i think joy is missing the point. what i'm saying is there's no process in the senate, in other words, i'm not expecting the senate democrats to necessarily vote the paul ryan budget. but i am expecting them to hold hearings to have a national

inhofe and the founding fathers. but senator durbin -- durbin mentioned last time we did the bill was bipartisan but the last two times it was bipartisan but the economic situation was far different. the economy was strong last two times we passed transportation bills. the trust fund was flush with money and we had congressionally directed funding but we face unsustainable deficits and debt. we need to make sure we're moving forward with a bill that is paid for in a responsible way. not smoke and mirrors but make sure we pay for this in the right way. there are things we added to this. the keystone pipeline will improve our energy, the ability to get energy and create jobs. i believe this bill can be a job creator. can improve the economy but the key to what we believe in rows are the reforms. streamlining reforms. it takes 15 years to build a major construction project in this country. the state's lack the necessary flexibility to beside the greatest transportation needs in their states and also putting mandates on them that re

time senator helms won for the senate -- i believe it was 1972 -- senator thurmond had been in public life since 1926. that's number one. number two, based on my observations as a reporter for congressional quarterly and having written quite a bit about some of the things senator helms was involved in and the same with senator thurmond and watching him, i've always thought that senator thurmond is ideological, yes, strong views, yes, but he is primarily a legislator. this is somebody who, if he wants to get something done, listens to where the other side is. you can do business with him; you can get something done. the best example, probably, is not the meat and potatoes of this book but his work with ted kennedy and howard metzenbaum, very liberal senator from ohio, on crime legislation. senator helms, i thought, has a different reason that he's here. he is, i think, out more to represent a point of view and to hold to that; if he can attract enough people to it, so be it. if not, he is not as interested in moving to find that center. i would say a third thing, and thi

the house-passed budget and the budget proposed by senator -- the presiding officer: the senator has 30 more seconds. mr. alexander: thank you very much, mr. chairman. the house-passed budget and the budget proposed by senator toomey are opportunities to make the next step after the budget control act and i look forward to working with them to adopt a responsible budget that grows the economy and reduces our debt. i thank the president. i yield the floor. mr. reed: mr. president, in 46 days -- the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed: thank you, mr. president. in 46 days, the interest rate on student loans will be doubled, and zeroing in on these budgets that are before us, all of them seem to support the essence of the ryan budget which is to allow this to happen. in fact, the ryan budget in the house not only allowed a doubling of student interest rates, it also would eliminate the in-school interest subsidy for student loans, putting middle-class families at a particularly severe disadvantage. we have 46 days to limit this increase on the interest charges to m

mcconnell, the senate republican leader, said their republican senate agenda is to defeat obama. this was three years and 11 months before the 2012 election. and nobody in the republican caucus except for olympia snowe, susan collins and arlen specter would talk to the democrats about the bill. i had been the child during the 1930s depression, and i didn't want to see another depression. my father, who was a russian immigrant in 1930, found -- which would was yiddish. we lived in wichita, and my father packed up the family, headed east to philadelphia where he had a sister. in the depression, that is what families did. they moved in with one another to survive, and those were really tough times. and i had been there. it was plain that the vote was going to be highly precarious and it turned out to be just that. and that single vote out of 10,000 turned out to be the problem which i had. and that has created a situation where for example, senator collins and senators nau would not cross again the line. we had a case called citizens united, which is pretty well-known, where the supr

welcome back to the big picture i'm tom arbonne coming up in this half hour the senate republicans love it the filibuster is under attack by a lawsuit claiming current filibuster rules are unconstitutional could this lawsuit put an end the republicans games and bring democracy back to the united states senate also for the past twenty years american workers have been suffering from the effects of u.s. trade deals why do we keep bettering into these deals and when will washington learn that these deals done to help america they hurt us and with endless investments from wall street and corporate powers u.s. government no longer works for the people but for those of the fattest wallets is there a way to change this or are we the people permanently lost our say in america's government and democracy. in the best of the rest of the news could a lawsuit put an end to the republicans perpetual senate filibuster there is ation common cause filed suit on tuesday against the united states senate claiming current filibuster rules are unconstitutional in a statement released yesterday common cause pr

21231 to the senator from -- 21231 to the -- 23121 to the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: thank you. thank you for your great leadership on this bill. this bill means so much to my state. i spoke earlier today about the need to improve the approval process at the f.d.a. as you know, this bill will speak that up with the agreement reached between industry and the f.d.a. on the fees. i want to thank you for your leadership on that. we have literally tens of thousands of employees in our state that have incredibly good jobs in the high-tech industry. this is a huge potential export -- already is an export but even more could come if we do this right, as we look at the growing middle class in countries like china and india that are going to hospital, that are using medical devices, so this bill speeding up the process but still keeping those important safety standards in place couldn't be more important as well as for patients who have been waiting for lifesaving treatments. so i thank you for that. i also thank you for including, as senator bennet referenced, my

the vote? do you wish you had voted with senator murray and? >> you are talking about the appropriations bill, which is meeting the budget control act and is part of spending reductions that were put in place part of the debt ceiling -- >> but house republicans want to cut $19 billion from that level. >> i thought there was only one vote but did not support moving forward, which meets the budget control act. i think there is a strong bipartisan majority that is working to reduce spending in line with the budget control act. we will need to do more. that is what sequestration is about. but unlike the house is working on right now, i do not agree with sequestration. i think we need to find a better way to do it. there is too much pressure on the military to find the savings. but the real way to do it is to have entitlement reform, tax reform, passed a budget with savings included where we go through and do it in a very thoughtful way rather than sequestration. again, it is about further reductions and further savings. we're definitely working on t

to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i herebynator from the state of new mexico, to perform the duties f the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr. reid: mada mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: we're now considering s. 3187, the f.d.a. user fees legislation. there is an agreement now reached to complete this legislation today. under the agreement, debate time will expire at 2:00 p.m. today. up to 12 roll call votes could begin earlier in order to complete action on the bill and have a couple votes in relation to the student loan interest rate hike. we'll notify everyone if time is yielded back, but people should be aware of the need for you come here we hope before noon to have a couple votes. there will be no votes between 1:00 and 2:00 because of meetingmeetings both sides have. so we also hope -- we worked out a tentative agreement yesterday on flood insurance, which is important to 6 million people. we need to get that done today also. we hope we can get tha

the bipartisan senate bill receives unanimous vote from the department of public works committee's 18 urban, western, eastern, northern, southern, progressive and conservative senators, and 75% of the full senate supported it. it provides the community's need to plan and begin construction. invest in highway jobs without adding a dime to the deficit. the official scorekeeper, the c.b.o., says it reduces the deficit. as chairman of the finance committee i worked with members of both parties to achieve three goals -- guaranteed funding through september, 2013, not add to the deficit, and keep the trust fund solvent moving forward. over the next two years we put $9.2 billion into the trust fund covering the cost of the bill and leaving $3.6 billion cushion. in total we put $14 billion into the highway trust fund over 10 years. this actually reduces the deficit by $10 billion over the 10-year budget window. we focused on a nexus to transportation and energy. we included an idea from republican senators to transfer the leaking underground storage tanks and 1/3 of future revenues into the t

election but for the hard work that senate has done moving this legislation forefor us. i don't think there's any more important legislation fate facing thinking congress than the transportation bill that will renew and rebuild neshg. we know the facts. the transportation infrastructure is rated d by the american society of civil engineers. it continues to deteriorate. congestion costs americans more than $85 billion a year and we waste more than $4.2 billion hours stuck in traffic. there are as you pointed out what we have a 12.5 million americans unemployed. over 10% in the building trades and for every billion dollars spent on transportation, will create about 35,000 jobs. the jobs bill for this congress is before us. i think it's important to focus on the transportation-recommended provisions of the bill and the financing and not get bogged down in this conference on unrelated and divisive political projects. keystone pipeline and the blocking of epa from protecting public health come to mind. senate bill is already a compromise and we appreci

we can't really criticize the -- offered by senator blount on missouri. it was rejected. the second thing i learned from my staff is that we cannot even agree on what we disagree on coming to this conference committee, here's what i'd say is obvious. look at the senators who came before me, they reached a bipartisan agreement that passed 74 to 22. we have a bill, you have an extension of current law with a lot of extra writers. the third point i would like to make, the house could not pass, thank goodness, manage to mobilize folks that didn't even talk to each other. they all hated your bill. they said make sure it dusht pass. i eliminates the 25% of mass transit that's been on the books for 30 years. eliminates the tiger grant programs. i salute my two illinois republican congressmen who had the courage to stand up and say they wouldn't even vote for that bill as well. this is not the first keystone pipeline, this is the second one. the first one from alberta goes down to roxana illinois in my district. to the conoco -- cleaning them up into viable products. we did this w

the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until of the u.s. senate. on weeknights watch key public policy events and every weekend the latest nonfinks authors an and books on tv. you can join in on the conversation on social media sites. now the -- now the former coshare. and philadelphia mayer michael discuss the nation's fiscal evey challenges. sea abcts george steph no no lis mod races. i want to begin with you. you i haven't been here for the heard -- e the last couple of speakers. i have been interviewing a lot of people on the budget issues. it made me think. he must feel like the pope these days. -- you must feel like people these days. everyone feels the need to kiss the ring of simpson-bowles even if they do not adhere to everything you laid out. what i would like to do is have you talk a little bit about what you are hearing when you go out into the country and tried to lay the groundwork for support. what you're hearing back from people of what they expect, what they want, what they need, and what they understand. >> thanks to pete peterson

the roll. quorum call: a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. harkin: i ask further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. harkin: i ask unanimous consent the banking committee be drarnlgd from further consideration of s. 418 and the senate proceed to its consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 418, a bill to award a congressional gold medal to the world world war ii membef the civil air patrol. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. harkin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table with with no intervening n or debate and any statements related to the bill be placed in the record at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. harkin: mr. president, i want to speak about s. 418 that we just passed. i want to thank all my colleagues for allowing this

mcconnell, the senate republican leader, said their republican senate agenda is to defeat obama. this was three years and 11 months before the 2012 election. and nobody in the republican caucus except for olympia snowe, susan collins and arlen specter would talk to the democrats about the bill. i had been the child during the 1930s depression, and i didn't want to see another depression. my father, who was a russian immigrant in 1930, found -- which would was yiddish. we lived in wichita, and my father packed up the family, headed east to philadelphia where he had a sister. in the depression, that is what families did. they moved in with one another to survive, and those were really tough times. and i had been there. it was plain that the vote was going to be highly precarious and it turned out to be just that. and that single vote out of 10,000 turned out to be the problem which i had. and that has created a situation where for example, senator collins and senators nau would not cross again the line. we had a case called citizens united, which is pretty well-known, where the supr

the world. he does not want to be senate majority leader. president. is going to leave the president and become vice president and be humiliated for three years. it was his home and now he had left it. >> this volume right now, the end of the book is "if he had held in check these forces within him, had conquered himself for a while, he was not going to be able to do it for long, but he had done it long enough." >> that is the last sentence. i say in this book you have a lyndon johnson who before these 47 days after the assassination was a certain type of man. bullying, ruthless, conniving. he has to rise above that to make the country know they have a president. he has to curb his temperament. he had a secretary name marie who gave me a brilliant insight. she said his very physical movements change on the plane. it is like he always shambled, suddenly he is walking disciplined like a president. that does not change. that is the way he acts. he says to them, he humbles themselves. he said i need you more than jack kennedy ever needed you. jack kennedy

i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: madam president, first, let me thank the majority leader for his doggedness in making sure that we could come to an agreement that sends a clear message to iran before the p-5 plus one talks take place this week. his commitment made a difference. and let me thank the chairman of the banking committee, senator johnson, who, in an agenda that is incredibly full with all the challenges that the banking committee is taking up, made sure that the whole effort on iran sanctions had a priority in the committee and worked to get the strong bipartisan unanimous vote that came out of the committee that gives us the foundation to move forward today. so i want to thank both of them. and i think, madam president, today the senate sends a clear message to iran as it prepares for the p-5 plus one talks in baghdad and basically that message is provide a real and verifiable plan for completely dismantling your nuclear weapons program or washington will further tighten the economic noose.

guest: on the senate side, there is no speaker. the most powerful leader on the senate side is the majority leader. he does the calendar orchestrates the senate. host: california. good morning. caller: period 4 -- thank you to my teacher. could you explain how supreme court cases are selected? guest: in order for a case to be heard by the supreme court, it takes four of the nine justices to agree to hear the case. granting a writ of certain. 8000 cases are appealed. they hear about 80. different justices have different procedures. some like to go through each of them. others like to delegate that to their law clerks. it depends on the chambers. guest: what increases the chance of a case is if there is a conflict at a lower federal court level. host: kentucky. this is shelley. hi. caller: hi. i would like to shout out to my teacher. mr. alan white. what is the main constitutional issue between the president and congress over the decision to go to war? guest: you should know the checks and balances when it comes to the military and we

they're really taking the lead on this. senator inhofe who also sits on armed services was one of the major opponents the last time around. they're joined by as many as 26 gop senators preparing a letter opposing the treaty right now that includes senate minority whip jon kyl and others. there's a group of gop senators who are on the fence, these include ranking republican john mccain and lindsey graham and some others and they have concerns with the treaty and want to make some changes to our document that ratifies the treaty, but they seem to be saying they can be won over. that's where the real action is at this moment. >> in your cable blog for foreign policy.com, you write that carl levin thinks there's two-thirds that will vote for it. you talked to senator mccain. he said he thinks a vote is going to happen during the lame duck session. is it because it's an election year it's tougher to do this year? >> there's a whole lot of political realties that factor into this. it's similar to the ratification drive for the start trea

is making the problem worse. senator casey and i worked together on a review of federal initiatives to combat prescription drug abuse and to issue a report on that. tennessee, our state ranks second in the nation for prescription drug use. our governor, bill haslem, and our legislature took action this year to deal with that. we intend to help them. in closing, i'd like to commend senators harkin and enzi. i see the senator from washington on the floor. i don't want to take much more time because i know she's about to speak. she's been integrally involved in the development of this legislation over -- over the last year, especially the better pharmaceuticals and devices for children act. i mentioned that a little earlier. it incentivizes drug users to study their products and how they affect children and, in return, they get to keep the exclusive use of those products for a little while longer. that means they don't go to generics quite as quickly. that has been tried in this legislation since it was first authorized and

and i thank the senator from new jersey. the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: mr. president, i rise to speak about the violence against women act that the senate passed, but we seem to have a challenge with our colleagues in the house of representatives. in my view, violence against any woman is still violence. and apparently my republican colleagues in the house do not share that view. republicans in the house have introduced a bill that would not protect all women. their bill would roll back protections for certain vulnerable populations. it would strip provisions in the senate bill that protect women from discrimination and abuse, specific khreurbgs native -- specifically, native american women, the lgbt community and undocumented immigrants. it rolls back protections they have under current law. mr. president, we've seen that violence against women is an epidemic, and it plagues all of us, not just some of us. we have fought against it. we have tried to end it. we have established programs and policies at the national and state levels to mitigate i

i think it's really a fault of the senate. the house has tried to make some steps forward in terms of budgets, trying to manage the debt and do some things around health care. and the senate has just sat on any new initiatives coming forward from the house. the senate hasn't passed a budget for years now, so i realize i don't think anything will get done and it's really on the behalf of the senate is the reason why it won't get done. >> i'm dana. i'm calling from maryland. i am quite disgusted that it seems none of our elected officials can get their job done, including the president. i'm really hopeful that there will be a big shift in power come the new election, and as a responsible citizen i do not hold that like our federal government thinks is currently acceptable for the united states, and i don't feel that we should have the debt that we have. i also don't feel that we should be providing some of the free services that we do for many people who do not work. >> frankly, i think that congress is so screwed up that it will

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: i move to proceed to calendar number 396, h.r. 207 26789 the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 396, h.r. 2072, an act to reauthorize the export-import bank of the united states and for other purposes. mr. reid: mr. president, we're now on the motion to proceed to the ex-im bank bill. we're working on an tkpwaeplt to begin -- on an agreement to begin consideration of the bill. at 4:30 today the senate will proceed to executive session to consider two of the united states district judges from maryland and illinois. at 5:30 there will be up to three roll call votes. the first two will be con confirmation of russell and tharp and the third will be on the motion on cloture to proce

the white house back to us, to the senate to fill the vacancies. john lee, who was approved last month, j. tharp will be taken up this evening. john lee was my choice. j. tharp was senator kirk's choice. we agreed, as i said, on both nominees. they were both nominated on the same tkaeufplt they appeared -- same day. they appeared together at the judiciary committee in january, almost six months ago. both reported out of the committee in february, about three or four months ago, in a bipartisan voice vote. it was my hope we could bring them to a quick vote. there was an urgent need to fill the vacancies. we have contacted by the chief judge of the district in chicago, jim holderman, and he's written and asked please move on these judges. i felt an obligation after senator kirk's illness to try to get this job done. i knew senator kirk would be here in person if it were humanly possible. i put his statement in the record. i know how strongly he feels about the qualities of j. tharp. unfortunately, for reasons hard to understand, this has dragged on fo

>> the chair of the conference is senator boxer. and she has done excellent job so far breaking it down into various groups, addressing various issues of which the members are interested. the staffs are working across party aisles and across the hill in a very good manner, breaking it down as well. perhaps a lot of the low-hanging fruit will be resolved at the staff level and the major issues, one of which you have addressed, will be left for the conferees themselves to address. i hope it will be instead of kicked upstairs on the leadership like happened to the faa bill last summer as many may recall. so it's a large conference committee. it's typical of conference committees. as i said a minute ago it is a good thing we are meeting. it's a good thing we had the conference committee. that's what the process is all about. the conference committees have been rare under this republican pro house of representatives. we ought to be glad we're in conference and talking with one another. >> did chairman micah say anything you disagreed with

i'm the only one left at this point. senatorpeatedly together to help save the auto industry. on numerous occasions he was extraordinarily helpful on issues like iraq and afghanistan and actually sat with me one time. you talk about the epitome of statesmanship. he said, joe, i want to help you with iraq and afghanistan, if i can, any ideas i might have. anything we talk about is you and me. it's about our country. >> do you think -- i noticed already this morning club for growth noting your support of nancy pelosi as speaker. >> they've been trying to do that for six years. in the last election i supported heath schuler. >> let me ask you about that. why didn't you support your democratic leader there? what was the message you were trying to send? >> well, the message i was trying to send was i thought the democratic leader should be someone who was more in the middle. i respect nancy pelosi but i thought the leader should be someone who epitomized working together, partisanship. i'm a blue dog democrat, it means trying to work

the senate to command action. day, using filibuster, 21% of the states muster 11% of the population can muster the votes to stop in the senate. i am a californian and are most disadvantaged by the current rules. doesn't that seem unfair, doesn't it seem like we've gone too far disadvantaging the large states? >> i think it's gone too far. when you look at the fact that each state no matter what their population has two senators, the fact we have crazy filibuster rules, you are compounding advantage on the minority in a way the founders never imagined and runs contrary to the democratic spirit of our country. i think it is high time to bring this to a close. let the will of the people emerge. let's have some real democracy in the united states senate. they like to call themselves a great deliberative body. i think they strayed from that and i think there are members of the senate who would be pretty happy to be able to return to a real democracy in the senate. >> minutes democratic congressman, keith ellison, thank

there's obviously the senate process. there's the desire to find highly qualified individuals, and so there's -- it's a complex terrain, and one in which probably should be evaluated over time. >> thank you. i recognize myself for more or less one question. >> please. >> first panel to my pleasure congratulated ed for passing o bipartisan basis the data act. the data act is fairly extensive. om b has not been the greatest proponent of it. under your predecessor. do you have concerns you want to share today? obviously, senator mark warner in the senate is the lead sponsor of an identical bill. the vice president has been supportive and a part of it at every point. chairman devaney has been part of it. i want to put you on the spot a little. i think mr. connolly did a good job of going completely off the first panel's discussion brilliantly and i'd like to do that bu i think the data act deserves an understanding if you're prepared to make comments on challenges you see, if any, that need to be addressed. >> thank you, chair

reauthorization bill to the senate floor and your l.i.e. and i appreciate the testimony i lead a and heard expressing the value importance of accomplishing that. what mr. sampson said i hadn't thought about but it makes sense to me the ability to continue to write these policies in this uncertain environment diminishes to act on some occasions. i appreciate you having the hearing to highlight the importance and i am pleased to allow me to join you for this period of time. >> some have suggested that a two-year extension would be better than the reform of the program and i think both senator vitter and senator moreni alluded to it to put it on more firm ground with a long-term extension. this is basically dr. sampson or mr. jensen either the two were that all of the freakin' document this but the solvency of the program, could you discuss some areas where reform of this bill is important to the constituencies that you represent, what else does it provide? >> thank you, senator. in addition to the reform as you mentioned there are some issues

senator cardin's second appearance before the subcommittee. he testified dwred firefightyes first-ever meeting. we're pleased that you can join us today and please proceed. >> senator durbin, let me thank you for your leadership on this subcommittee. the fact that we have this subcommittee is a testament to your leadership in making clear that civil -- human rights are going to be a priority of the united states senate. so i thank you for your leadership and thank you such for calling this hearing. it's a pleasure to be here with all my colleagues, but i particularly want to acknowledge senator conyers and his extraordinary life leadership on behalf of civil rights and these issues. congressman conyers was a mentor to me when i was in the house and still is. and we thank you very much for your leadership on this issue. senator durbin, you pointed out that the nation was shocked. if i could ask unanimous consent to put my entire statement in the record along with the list of the many organizations that are supporting the legislation that i filed

that's the indiana senate rate with joe donnelly. ppercuts and jabs and right hooks at the tea party. >> eliot: you look like you've been inside the ring practicing that. >> i hope you don't see my black eyes. >> eliot: you know, the republicans are going farther and farther right in the senate primaries. that will help the democrats hold on to the senate--from your mouth to if you have an opinion, you better back it up. >>eliot spitzer takes on politics. >>science and republicans do not mix. >>now it's your turn at the only online forum with a direct line to eliot spitzer. >>join the debate now. >> eliot: a number of smart friend of mine are asking why we care so much if jp morgan chase lost $2 billion. after all, the bank can absorb it. but just because you survive a heart attack does not mean you don't care about what caused it. you should do more to stop the disease further on. the doctors at jp morgan chase are trying to give us the wrong diagnosis. in a letter to shareholders just a couple of days ago, ceo jamie dimon said it wi