to be the senate. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. enzi con: mr. president? mr. alexander: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: thanks, mr. president. three times 75 senators, one time -- three times senators have voted either with 74 or 75 votes in favor of this legislation. a majority of democrats and a majority of republican senators. on monday we were ready for amendments but the small group of senators who oppose it objected. on tuesday, we asked to have time given back so we could begin amendments. there was an objection. on wednesday, the senator from arkansas asked for a ten-year moratorium on internet taxes and there was an objection. and we're ready today, as we'll -- as we'll see. sometimes we republicans feel like democrats keep us from offering amendments. whether that is ever true, this is different. in this case, democrats and republicans, a small group, are blocking the majority of us, democrats and republicans, who want to go forward with

i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: i want to say my thoughts and prayers go out to the good people in boston and other areas where they've had these tremendous horrific events and attacks and i hope and pray all of those whose lives were impacted by these tragic events will have a swift and peaceful recovery. in addition i want to commend the law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation that brought the huptd for the perpetrators to a successful end. over the last few months, i've come to the floor several times to discuss the need for the senate to return to regular order. if the last several years have taught us anything it's effort to force legislation through the senate without full and fair consideration tend to yield unsatisfactory -- unsaving -- unsatisfying results. complaints about the lack of bipartisanship have more or less become the norm around here and we hear about the desire for the so-called grand bargains. but, mr. president, bipartisan agreements don't just happen. i think we all agre

the senator from missouri. mr. blunt: madam president, as my good friend from arkansas said and for the benefit of the senator from oregon, we haven't made a request yet for this amendment to be moved to the front of the line to be debated, but we are here to say that we'd like to have this amendment on this bill. we're both supporters of the marketplace fairness act for reasons that i hope we have well established and i think people, including members of the senate, are beginning to understand that it's a fairness principle, but what this amendment does, recognizing the importance of online commerce, that it's grown dramatically since 1998 when this amendment first became part of the law, the internet tax freedom act, and in 1998, it said you wouldn't tax the internet itself for use of the internet. unless we act, this law would expire in 2014, and this would be a ten-year extension that would just simply say that we would continue to ensure that people's access to internet services is tax free. to be clear, the un

the senate dropped the immigration re-- proposal from the gang of eight in the senate. the congressman is part of the gang of eight in the house. what's going on with this gang? >> there are a lot of questions about that. we know a lot more about the senate than we do about the house. we have several senate hearings scheduled and then the bill will go through senate committee and to the senate floor. all of that is fairly certain at this point, especially given the makeup of the senate judiciary committee that a bill will get out to the senate floor. the house is more different. you have a gang operating there that until this week when the senate bill came out, the gang in the house didn't even acknowledge publicly they were in existence as a gang, though it was the worst kept secret in washington. in some 's also that ways while it has blessing from house republican leaers to some extent, it's much different than the chairman of the jew dish compare committee in the senate who was active pli hi pushing,, bob goodlatte, he is taking a different track altogether. talking

quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: i ask consent the call of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, there will now be two minutes of debate, equally divided prior to a vote in relation to amendment number 717 offered by the senator from wyoming, mr. barrasso. mrbarrasso: ank you,ming. mr. presiden this amendment protects the privacy and sety of law-abiding gun owners. when government officials release gun ownership information it puts many lives at risk. this includes the lives of lawful gun owners, the lived of law enforcement and the lives of ctheic violence. state or local governments that release private gun owner information will be penalized 5% of their federal program funding. this includes the release of private information on individuals 0 who have licenses to purchase or who possess or who carry firearms. the funding that's withheld will then be redistributed to the states that are in compliance. this amendment will ensure that gun owners across

the floor. >> madam president? >> senator from utah. >> unanimous consent the quorum call be suspended. >> without objection. >> madam president, for several weeks now washington and the rest of the country have been debating several new gun control proposals. along with a number of my colleagues, including the minority leader, i declared my intention to resist an immediate vote on any new restrictions that would serve primarily to limit the freedom of law-abiding citizens rather than reduce violent crime in america. unfortunately, the current gun control proposals would do just that. more than two weeks ago we inform the majority leader that we will exercise our procedural right to require a 60 vote threshold in order to bring this legislation to the floor. we've taken this step under our senate rules of procedure for three principal reasons. first, the senate serves an important function in our republic by encouraging deliberation, and make it more difficult for a temporary majority to impose its will unilaterally. unlike t

quorum call: a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mr. schumer: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. schumer: i suggest the continuation of the quorum for a minute. the presiding officer: without objection. quorum call: mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: mr. leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, my friend here from oklahoma is on the floor. i would ask if he would be kind enough to -- i'm going to say a few words. i'm going to withhold offering the consent for senator schumer to take five minutes before i offer the consent agreement. what would that be appropriate for the senator from oklahoma? okay. madam president, the arbitrary spending cuts in the budget control act were designed to be painful, so painful both parties could come together to find a bipartisan way to reduce the deficit. thus far, it hasn't worked. we've reduced the debt by doing a number of different things, some $2.5 trillion

republicans however have said they're ready to filibuster any gun control bill that appears before the senate to the families of gun violence victims think about republican obstructionism find out in just a moment also speaking of filibusters republicans have used their minority powers to block numerous obama administration judicial appointees is it time for the senate to use its nuclear option last card yes and it's a big picture politics panel and president obama if you're watching this program please don't shoot santa claus. explain why in today's daily take. last you need to know this last night president obama gave a rousing speech in hartford connecticut urging congress to pass senator harry reid's gun control bill. connecticut's shown the way. and now is the time for congress to do this and. time for congress to do the same this way this is not about politics this is about doing the right thing prove the families who are here that if they have a problem. if you believe the families do the work so we can prevent this from happening go do it at the. however before the say after noon it l

i respect the distinguished senator from tennessee, the distinguished senator from wyoming, the distinguished senator from illinois. they are sincere and they're dedicated. they believe they're right. and i would like to work with them to improve this bill. and everybody knows if we pass this bill in its current form, the house isn't going to take it. so we may be just doing a feckless act here rather than working as legislatures should do to improve the bill, make it acceptable, hopefully make it so that both houses will take it and the president will sign it. as you can see, there are simply too many problems and too many unanswered questions surrounding this legislation for me to support it as it is. as if i stated -- or as i've stated, i believe these problems could easily be resolved by a simple return to regular order. indeed, if the finance committee had been given an opportunity to fully examine this legislation, many of these problems would undoubtedly have been solved already. now there are people who don't want this bill. i understand that. the chairman of the committee itself does

it has been a bit of an issue in the senate. in the end the would not be too difficult for them to put it out there. the only question is what happens to it then. surevery much want to make that what ever they put forward is the full consensus. we want to move forward. they want to make sure they are not ignored in this process. at some point there will probably unveil something. out is likelymes to be more conservative. bill hasely that this to gets and it in order republicans to vote yes? assume there is a benchmark that needs to be met. >> let's make this contingent on some reasonable benchmark. the legalization lisa happen relatively quickly. >> he said he would call on the president to stop deportation. he still calling on the president to stop those deportations. interestinga lot of questions that will be post about that. it is safe to say that once the bill goes into affect, the legalization will happen almost immediately. from there the system ship will be a decade or more down the road. >> the presence of: all of this? -

enzi: i want to thank the senator from tennessee, senator alexander, and the senator from illinois, senator durbin for this discussion they've had where they i think cleared up a lot of confusion that there might be over a the bill. and have presented excellent reasons why we need to get this bill done and why we need to get it done now so that we can continue to grow businesses in our state, instead of growing businesses outside of our state. and there are a number of things that people have mentioned, one of the big ones i want to talk about a little bit is the small seller exemption and i know that senator wyden from oregon suggested a compromise for the whole bill which was actually to create the nontax states to be a haven for all internet sales and that won't work. our purpose is not to move all of the business on line out of our own states, but to keep them there. but there is a compromise in this bill, it's called the small seller exemption. that's where people that are starting up in business don't have to collect the tax when they're out of state. now, what the in-state sales and

guest: they are in the senate historical office. i was just reviewing a bunch of them that he wants me to release. scholars still want to deal with the bork business. they want to hear about my work in iran and the nixon days and what we did with impeachment. those are good things for historians. there are too many guys still alive. host: thank you very much. >> for a dvd copy of this program called 1-877-662-7726.

and we hit it off with the senator. the give and take was there and we had a pretty good relationship. >> how long did you work for senator bennitt? >> nine years. >> why did you leave him in >> the white house called and said we want you to be a senate liason. went down in the nicks exan ar, 1971 and became senate liason handling senate relationships. >> what moment in your experience working for richard nixon do you remember the most? >> the day he left. it was the saddest state of affairs. he got up in the east room and said goodbye to all of us. and then to take it to the very xt step, so now jerry is sworn in. ford is now president and we invited the leadership down to meet the new president. i was talking to president ford. i was seeing what was happening, i filibustered a little bit so the leadership could see me talking to the new president. and president ford said you listen to me. everybody around me is a house person. you're the only senate guy in this building. don't you let anybody talk you into leaving. so

this is something that's being litigated in the senate, the gang of eight in the senate. i'm interested in what you as a house member of leadership do as you're waiting. i understand you met with several of the people featured in david guggenheim's movie on immigration "the dream is now." can you tell me what you do, what you can do right now as the senate mulls this immigration bill? >> i'll tell you not what we can do but what we are doing. remember in the house there are eight of us who are negotiating as well with our counterparts, four d's, four r's in the house. our negotiations have been going on in the senate a little quieter. but we're making progress as well. we're have to make sure that the special interests that always pop out, that don't want to see anything get done. when they begin to realize that hey, this may be real, they start to surface. and so what we're trying to do is just move past that and get a bill to the senate, to the house floor that can also pass. the film, "the dream is now" was so inspiring. you're talking about young americans, who have es

the senate will be in order. senators listen oath sides deserve to be heard -- on both sides deserve to be heard. please take your conversations off the floor. the senior senator from vermont is recognized. mr. leahy: senator collins and i and senators in both parties worked with law enforcement, worked with the n.r.a., worked with a whole lot of others to craft this. it gives law enforcement officials the tools they need to stop the all-too-common practices of straw purchasing and illegal trafficking of firearms. this gives us the tools to go after drug cartels that use straw purchasers to get their guns, gangs in big cities use straw purchases to get their guns. it's an important law enforcement measure across the political spectrum law enforcement supports it. let's stand with law enforcement and vote aye. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. please take conversations off the floor. the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: i move to reconsider the last vote. lay it on the table. the presiding officer

>> in the senate his or ther cal office. i'm reviewing them now. scholars want to hear about my work in iran, they want to here about the early nixon days and what we did on impeachment. those are valuable things for historians but as i say, there are too many guys still alive. >> we prishte it. > thank you very much. >> for a d.v.d. caller: of this program call 1-8 7-662-7726. for free transcripts or to give us your comments about this anda.org.isit us at q >> next city chirme michael o'neill talks about the economy. hen remarks from transportation secretary and vice president biden. tomorrow on cournl washington post political editor

any votes in the senate. the growth gap that we have today -- listen to the businesses that want to hire. there is a fear of new taxes. the amount of regulation is almost unprecedented. a bigger message is, will washington get its financial house in order? unless we address those roadblocks, we can have a stronger economy and we can prove the experts wrong that think the economy in america it is permanently slowed. we have to address those issues. host: how did you look at the current anemia of economic growth and the stock market's? federalwo words -- reserve. pumped a lot of money into the company. $400.ecovery is merely the difference is one of the drivers on why this economy has not revved back up. until we address what is happening in the economy, i do not think we will see that job growth. morning.ood what you are doing is talking out of both sides of your mouth. said the doke and not like that. the house andd the senate and the presidency. y'all had a surplus. you are talking about paying for hings -- t

shame on the senate. ry one of the 46 senators who voted no and shame especially on the republican party, only four of whom voted yes. remember this date. april 17, 2013. the most disgraceful day in the history of the united states senate. we'll be joined tombi bob cusack from the hill and brendan ayanbadejo. have a good one. come on back and see us tomorrow.

in the senate. my wife, she has been since 2011, december, multiple strokes put her into a coma in regards to medicare and medicaid. in order to get medicare she has to be 65 or disabled for two years. my question is i want to encourage you not to raise the eligibility because we are getting nowhere since march of 2010. it is really hard as far as therapy goes. she can't get therapy because she doesn't meet certain requirements or anything as well as service. she is and a skilled nursing home and is only 49 years old. >> guest: why would we have a program that says here is somebody who is young and had a stroke and obviously disabled and why would they have to go through long periods of time to get disability and once they are disabled with something that is probably going to have limited progression back and i don't know the details but at that type of age with multiple sclerosis you usually have limited progress in terms of return to full function, why would you have to wait two years to get medica

the russell senate office building, the hart senate office buildings. people have been told to stay put ob to leave as a result of these suspicious materials that are there that have been found there. all of this raising enormous questions in the aftermath. clearly understandably nervous feelings as a result of what happened here in boston. dana bash is standing by. dana, i want to recap for our viewers what's going on who may just be tuning in in the united states or around the world right now. we all know what happened in boston. these two bombings at the end of the boston marathon, three people killed, nearly 200 people injured. in the aftermath of that we just got confirmation once again from the white house the president will be here in boston tomorrow attending an interfaith memorial service, a service honoring those who were injured. obviously honoring those who were killed as well. and we were told that the first lady michelle obama will be joining the president at this interfaith memorial service. meanwhile, there may be connected activities or

he tried to regain his health and fortunately the senator from illinois to a covert. he never proved that package deal because he said that unites the enemies of compromise. we need to unite the friends and then he proceeded to have each one of the bills introduced and passed. and by the end of the summer of a compromise of 1850 and he admitted it was clay's compromise that was within the resolution, passed. then it went to the house where they would argue. during that discussion one man got up and lambasted thomas hart benton the senator from missouri. and took it so long and he startled foot and foot kept backing up and backing up and tell the back was against the desk of the vice president. and dentin kept coming towards him and foot stack the hand in the jacket and pulled out a pistol and benton stopped dead in his tracks and said shoot you diem assassin. of course, the other senators stopped him but he said was just trying to protect myself but this was happening on the floor of the senate with there were so many of them there were fist fights and the sergeant at

the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: i ask unanimous consent that all -- in fact, i ask unanimous consent to vacate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. wyden: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that all remaining time on the jewell nomination be yielded back. the presiding officer: is there objection? so ordered. all time is yielded back. mr. wyden: mr. president, i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: vote: vote: 1234506 vote: the presiding officer: have all the senators wish to vote or there other senators wishing to vote or change their votes? if not, the ayes are 87, the nays are 11. under the -- the nomination is approved. under the previous motion -- under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action, and the senate wi

i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murk: madam president, i -- ms. murkowski: i appreciate being here to hear the comments of my friend, the senator from new hampshire. she has noted there is a small handful of states that for a host of different reasons have chosen not to impose a sales tax on their residents, and as she has very well stated, this so-called marketplace fairness act is really not fair. it's really not fair to those states that have put in place other mechanisms, and yet what we are doing through this legislation that we have pending on the floor right now is to tell states like new hampshire, to tell states like alaska, that regardless of what your state chose to do, those who are engaged in an online sales and activity, you're going to be scooped into the requirements of whatever state the individual purchasing your product is. to me, madam president, that is absolutely not fairness within the marketplace. i think the people in alaska when they think about their marketplace, they're looking at where th

the senate has to produce a bill. if i make it clear they produce a bill we will review it and take it from there. >> it's been for 22 years i've been in congress and the thing we have to remember is from metal walls are only as good as the citizens willingness to abide by them. law-abiding citizens do of the buy them. criminals don't obey them. in addition to that, we have a system of laws that are not enforced today. i would think before we begin to add more rules and regulations, our law-abiding citizens that we least expect our law enforcement personnel and the department of justice to enforce the current law, which they are not doing. >> back in december when the president [inaudible] and yesterday he put it back on the table -- is your last offer to the president still on the table and would you be willing to make it public [inaudible] >> i don't know what the offer was. the president knows -- the president knows what needs to be done. he knows we can't continue to spend money we don't have. this year the federal

president obama is inviting the senators over for dinner tonight. >> all the women senators over for dinner. >> if you want to create a bipartisan agenda. >> no sign of progress anywhere. >> a great place to start is with the women senators. >>> in the boston bombing investigation, nbc news has learned that the fbi is increasingly confident, their words, increasingly confident that the two suspects acted alone. nbc's pete williams reported that dzhokhar tsarnaev has told investigators that he and his brother were motivated by religious fervor and their reaction to the american invasion of iraq and afghanistan. the suspect's condition was upgraded from serious to fair today, according to the u.s. attorney's office in boston. as you know, he was found bleeding in a boat in a driveway in watertown just outside boston. the man who discovered him in that boat, david hanaberry spoke with msnbc today. >> i know i took three steps up the ladder. i don't remember stepping down off the ladder. i think i just -- this hits you more afterwards and you think, my god. we probably slept last night. t

the president's push has the senate in motion. we'll talk to one leading democrat who wants to make mental health issues a bigger part of the plan. >>> also this morning, as kim jong-un keeps the world wondering about north korea's nuclear threats, secretary of state john kerry talks to nbc news about the possibility of sitting down with the country's leaders to calm things down. good morning from washington. it's tax day. monday, april 15th, 2013. this is "the daily rundown." i'm chuck todd. let's get right to my first reads of the morning. tomorrow the gang of eight will unveil an immigration reform bill that's been months in the making after weeks of taking a cautious tone. marco rubio and on a record-setting seven sunday talk shows to sell the portion of the bill that will be the toughest for conservatives to swallow, a pathway to citizenship for the roughly 11 million people in this country that are undocumented. >> amnesty is the forgiveness of something. in fact there will be consequences for having violated the law. this is

and the senate couldn't get past the filibuster. >> right. i mean i think that, i think that ha boehner would like and what his caucus would like are often two different things or sometimes two different things. the politics of immigration reform are very real. i believe it will get done. i think it is pretty vaungou s advantageous. but the reality is, that if the gang of eight can hold if the deal holds, if rubio gets behind it, i think it is more likely than not that the house will pass it. >> this goes to in so far as gun -- davis in so far as gun safety reform touches on a piece of the american cultural identity, immigration does, too. it's much more bipartisan, i think it's not so much a red state/blue state. they like the idea that people come here to live the american dream. >> what you see in the meeting that you played with mccain, there's also a lot of fear-mongering, people who live on the border who feel scared. and that's why i made the movie. when you meet these people you see that we need their potential. the american center fo

. >>> the senate has done it before. passed an assault weapons ban and limit on high capacity ammunition magazines back when the united states senate was not afraid to stand with dianne feinstein. she joins me for a "last word" exclusive. >> it is time for them to say what they think. >> can emotion trump deep division. >> yeah or nay. >> he is joining the filibuster, getting a powerful ally. >> mitch mcconnell, threatening to filibuster the gun safety bill. >> clearly had no bipartisan support in committee. >> at least pretend you're interested in it. >> see what he decides to turn to. >> please pretend you give a damn about what happened. >> for god's sake, we have to have debate. >> we have to have a vote. >> clearly no support in committee. >> trying to avoid a primary in 2014. >> then there's the mother jones report. >> leaked recordings published today. >> exposing raw politics of a lot of campaigns. he and the staff with strategies. >> this is what you get from the political left. >> against ashley judd. >> includi

. >> well, the u.s. senate today turns its focus back to legislation aimed at reducing gun violence. centers will gavel in at 10 a.m. for general speeches for debate on amendments to the firearms bill set to get underway about 11 a.m. first focusing on expanding background checks to in sales sponsored by senators to meet, republican from tennessee, and senator manchin. senator toomey from pennsylvania and senator manchin from west virginia, a democrat. the citizens committee for the rights to keep and bear arms to other amendments dealing with banning assault weapons, conceal carry permits and hide ammunition clips expected to come up with what is expected to be a weeks long to be. see live coverage this morning at 10 a.m. eastern right here on c-span2. live now to the national press club where the detainee treatment task force is releasing its findings this morning after a two-year investigation. this is just getting under way. >> recognized experts in law, medicine and ethics. the group includes conservatives

i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. harkin: madam president, i was honored to recommend to the president that he nominate jane kelly to serve as a judge on the united states court of appeals for the eighth circuit, and today i encourage my colleagues to vote for her confirmation which will be the first vote at noon. let me begin by thanking senator leahy and his staff for their hard work in advancing miss kelly's nomination in such a timely manner. i also thank my senior colleague from iowa, senator grassley, for his invaluable support and assistance. for all the years that we have served together, senator grassley and i have cooperated in a spirit of goodwill on judicial nominations in our state, and i am grateful that that tradition has continued. madam president, jane kelly possesses all of the qualifications necessary to assume the responsibilities of a federal appellate judge. before recommending miss kelly to the president, i reviewed a very strong field of candidates for this position. she stood out as a person of

the other senators took it away. he said he was only trying to protect myself, but this was happening on the floor of the senate. it was worse for the way in the house where there were so many of them that there were fistfights, but they said if there had been they said if there had been an explosion, fistfights, but they said if there had been an explosion, it couldn't have been any worse. it ended in a melee. now, you see, the compromise had passed, and everybody recognized that the south would not secede. the men who attended the nashville convention argued in favor of secession, but decided to allow congress to decide the issue, and so they got the ning passed. the south didn't secede, and for ten years, the north prepared itself so that when it came again and hep ri clay was dead, and who did they have but james buchanan and philmore, and franklin pierce, all of those biggies. [laughter] as buchanan said, there is nothing i can do. they have a perfect right to secede. he should have done what an dry jackson did,

the gun-control issue not only to the senators -- the republicans in the senate but the republicans in the house? guest: it remains an open question how republicans in the house will handle any package. how long it will have to go in the judiciary committee because house speaker john boehner has said all of the legislation that is important will have to go through regular order. what it says to republicans in the house is look, these are people in the senate that have deeply conservative printable's , -- principles. they're ok with this, and they are as conservative as you are. that pave the way to get traction in the house. guys in suburban philadelphia will look at pat toomey and say, thank you for doing this. getting this moving. the senate passing a bill, the house passing a bill, is never a guarantee that the other one will do something with it or it will look like with the other chamber passed when it is done. but when you have that sort of guy like at pat toomey that is involved in a, that definitely ups the chances that the other chamber will look at it. host: wh

the roll. quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. with whitehouse: mr. whitehouse: i ask unanimous consent the pending quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business for up to 15 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: i come to the floor again to address climate change particularly today, the change that carbon pollution is wreaking in our oceans. water temperatures are increasing, sea level is rising, ocean water is growing more acidic, and powerful storms are becoming more frequent and more intense. it is time to wake up to the threat to our oceans and coasts posed by carbon pollution. the rate at which carbon is now being dumped into the atmosphere and absorbed by our oceans is unprecedented. noaa estimates almost one million tons of the carbon dioxide we dump into the atmosphere is absorbed into the oceans every hour. one million tons of hour. we know with scientific certainty that carbon pollution causes the oc

why didn't the senate approve this legislation? at question. no one answer gives you the full picture. it is really hard to remember the last time there was a 90% issue on anything much less something that the senate didn't then go ahead and agree with. the fact that the vote was five short was obviously a disappointment but was also a big shot in the heart to the people who were here actually in the senate chamber, wolf. you'll see family members with the president shortly but they're also here for the vote. our ted barret was in the chamber. he reports that two women stood up very loudly and all the senators heard and said shame on you. one of the women, they were both related to recent gun violence. one was the woman who said she helped take one of the magazines away from jared loughner the man who shot gabby giffords and others and another was a family member of a virginia tech victim. that is the kind of emotion you're seeing still it didn't really seem to get the senators, the ones they needed to get across the aisle. the reas

snapshots of fallen children and teachers of newtown inside the senate. outside the capitol, a 23-hour vigil reading gun victims' names. >> jamie stafford at the age of 31. >> reporter: crosses to remember them on the national mall and family members here to witness the vote. >> we are standing here because her sister and my mom can't be and their voices need to be heard. >> reporter: under that emotion-fueled pressure, expectations shifted. >> literally the political landscape of america on gun safety is changing before our eyes. >> the motion is agreed to. >> reporter: senatored took one small but significant step, opening up what will be weeks of heated debate over gun laws and violence in our culture. 16 republicans voted to begin that contentious negotiation. >> it goes way beyond guns, and that's why we need to have the debate. >> reporter: two red state democrats up for re-election, including mark begich voted against. >> i vote what's important for alaska. it's not a party decision. it's not a conservative versus liberal. >> reporter: after victims

the clerk: senate resolution 99, expressing the sense of the senate that public servants should be committed for their dedication and continued service to the united states during public service recognition week. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, there being no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to s. res. 100. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 100, commending and congratulating the university of louisville men's basketball team for winning its third division one national collegiate athletic association championship, and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the ta

announced and is showing pictures of two suspects in the boston marathon bombing and yesterday the senate rejected a gun background check bill that ninety percent of the american people support promises the president made after newtown looks to be broken are senators supporters supposed to represent the people not the n.r.a. also last month the obama administration announced it would transfer authority over the drone program from the cia to the pentagon how did the teligent agency get the power to wage war and later in the show is a your take by take a live segment your chance to call in and ask a question or make a comment live here. did you know this the f.b.i. has identified two suspects behind monday's bombings in boston although as of yet no information has come to light regarding the identities of these two individuals investigators have released surveillance video showing two backpack wearing males near the site of the attacks just minutes before the bombs went off photos are available at f.b.i. dot gov if you have any information call the f.b.i. is tip line at one eight hundred ca

i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. hoeven:i ask that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. hoeven:i come to the floor to commend senator heitkamp on giving her maiden address this morning. she is not only someone i've known for a long time and worked with for a long time, but somebody i think truly brings a spirit of bipartisanship to this body, which is so needed as we address the challenges today ranging from our debt and deficit to getting our economy going, getting people back to work; addressing things like terrorism and the heinous act that we saw, the attack on the marathon in boston and the great people of this great country; on immigration and on entitlement reform, protecting and preserving social security and medicare for the long term, progrowth tax reform, an energy plan for this country, making sure that we find ways to get our health care system working better, the finest health care system in the world. but all of these great issues of the day for this nation, i

the rules of the senate. of course, if they want to change the rules of the senate, they'd have to break the rules of the senate in order to change the rules of the senate. you know, really such intemperate comments utterly fail to recognize the work the senate has already accomplished in approving judges. the purported justification is the number of judges on the calendar. that number has to be -- happens to be 15 right now. where was there similar concern in april of 2004 when the number of nominees on the executive clen was nearly -- calendar was nearly double what it is today? a second prong of this debate concerns the evacuation rate of the -- vacancy rate. blaming judicial vacancies on the senate confirmation process is unfounded and a distortion of the process. for a very simple commonsense rule, the vacancy rate is due not to the senate not confirming or acting, but the white house hasn't even sent these nominations to the united states senate. and how can we work on something when we don'tvene nominat

today, the u.s. senate decided that the appropriate national response to that massacre should be nothing. they want to do nothing in response to that, and so they filibustered. this is huge news. the president speaking on the matter from the white house not long after the vote, one of the most powerful and angry speeches that barack obama has ever given as president of the united states. newtown families and tucson survivors standing with the president at the white house when he made those remarks. many of them today were looking on in the senate as the background checks bill was filibustered. there's a lot to explain what happened there in that story and what happens next. this is, clearly, the biggest policy story in this president's second term thus far, by far it is. but also in the midst of all of this, still today, the country is riveted to the continuing news out of boston after the bombing of the boston marathon two days ago. the first thing you need to know what happened today in the news about bos

plus, the senate moves forward on gun control legislation, but is the bill they're looking at really what the president wanted? and could some red state democrats wind up paying with their political lives. and beyonce and jay-z's cuba trip sparked outrage. other celebrities have done it, so what's the big deal? >> for years, the debate in this town has raged between reducing our deficits at all costs and making investments that start to grow our economy. this budget answers that argument because we can do both. >> welcome to "the journal editorial report," i'm stuart varney if this week for paul gigot. at long last, president obama released his budget for 2014 this week, calling it a fiscally responsible blueprint for middle class jobs and growth. and pitching it as a peace offering to republicans. but after looking at the details, shouldn't we be hoping for gridlock? dan henninger, james freeman and kim strassel. dan, hoping for gridlock? you don't like this? >> it sounds good for me based on what i heard president obama say, so, on the one hand he says, in the past we've been tryin

rest of the senators don't know why. and the staff will look at it because they are still trying to figure out how to get it at the state level rather than for the country. >> host: here are some of senator coburn's books, "subsidies of the rich and famous", "money for nothing, oklahoma waste report: exposing washington's wasteful spending habits in our own backyard", that was a 600 page report. did you think about publishing that in book form? >> guest: i do that with federal money. and people can get it on the website. there is $9 trillion. there are tax increases and revenue enhancements and $7 trillion worth of spending reductions, which would put us in 10 years to balance the budget and after 10 years, pay off our debt. >> host: when you talk about tax increase increases, and revenue enhancement, what you say about that? >> guest: if you look at what we put out in subsidies for the rich and famous, it creates benefits in the tax codes that benefit themselves. it benefits the average person. so we outlined 29 billion

the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: madam president, at long last today, we have received the president's budget. it's several weeks, actually months overdue. it was supposed to have been out on february 4. it's generally used to steer or guide the budget debate that we have here in washington, d.c., but in this case it's -- it's going to be a reaction to, it's going to be after the fact discussion of the budget because the house and senate have both passed budgets. the senate for the first time in four years, the house has passed their budget every year on time, and so you would hope at least that the president's budget would serve as a bridge between the house and the senate perhaps at this point in the process because it is so much after the fact, so late in the game that the president's budget has come to us, but regrettably much of the budget, the president's budget is going to rely on

democrats hold the senate. gain and we've looked at this years ago and saw that it's conservative voices on the sunday shows. this is across the spectrum, meet the press, "this week" all of the shows are dominated by conservatives. let's just take your findings, kind of one at a time here. broadcast networks posted republican and conservative guests more often. is that like across the board or just ms -- i mean nbc or abc? >> no. it's across the board. i mean, this is an issue that happens show after show after show. you look at them conservatives are getting to the mic phone in greater numbers than democratic voices. this is, you know, we talked about we always hear about how the liberal press. right? we have this liberal press. >> right. >> look who gets the microphones. >> you show here, this is based since january. is that right? >> that's right. >> so just this year, not talking past history, democrats, 29% of the guests across the sunday shows, republicans, 40%, and then so-called neutral, 31%. they even g

caller: i watch the house and the senate. and the republicans, they just work one day of the week and they're gone to their states every weekend. i mean, that's our tax dollars we're paying for them to work in washington. work in em in to washington and they're in a hurry to get out of there and get on a plane and go lie to their constituents. that's all they do, and then very have their lobbyists in washington. they don't do anything. they used to go home once every three months. why is it every week they have to go home to do nothing and they don't do anything in washington? especially the republicans. some of the democrats stay and want to stay and work. the democrats can fix this money situation, if we get to 2014, they want to fix that, the money situation where it used to be 2,500 or something like that, the limit they could donate and now it's just money, money, money in washington. it's just too much corruption and i am really frustrated. i don't like what's going on in the house and the senate and i see it and people

the senators coming up with the deal.ime that it became a big deal for two senators to reach a deal. that is the way it is. that is the environment there. is that deal of there's between the two of them something that is going to move forward that will be taken seriously by both parties? >> i think it will be taken seriously. i don't know whether it will pass are not. in my view what they should be doing is focus on prosecuting and punishing and preventing violent criminals. we should be safeguarding the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens. i think all of us were horrified by what happened at sandy hook. i have two little girls at home, and no parent could see children senselessly murdered and not be anything but speechless and just taken aback at the horror of it. but i think it is also sad that so many politicians are trying to take advantage of that tragedy -- tragedy not to pass legislation targeting violent criminals but instead working to take away the second amendment right to keep and bear arms of law-ab