toomey's amendment. it is my understanding the administration has called around and said they do not oppose our legislation. a place where we have an actuarially sound flood insurance program. you know, there is a c.b.o. score out there of over ten years of zero. so look, the reality is if you want the real estate markets to take a real hit, if you want people, families to be displaced from their homes, you adopt the toomey amendment. if you want to do what on a bipartisan basis has been the focus of this legislation, to keep an actuarially sound flood insurance program but at the same time make sure that we don't drive people out of their homes and make sure that we get the study done before we get the actions done, then you will oppose the toomey amendment and support the underlying bill. i yield the floor and 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: the presiding officer

toomey, proposes amendment numbered 2707 as modified. mr. toomey: mr. president, i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:: quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: thank you, mr. president. i ask the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: i ask unanimous consent the pending amendment be set aside so i may call up amendment 2709 and that the amendment be modified to correct a typographical error. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from oregon, mr. merkley, proposes amendment numbered 2709 as modified. mr. merkley: thank you, mr. president. i think i will take this occasion to just make a couple of remarks about the content of this amendment. this amendment is about a predatory practice that is involved in the flood insurance world, and that predatory practice is that when a servicer of mortgages places insurance, flood insurance on a property, be it

pat toomey from the american civil lisheds union, former congressman peter hoekstra. "taking stock."

that's what the toomey amendment does not do as well intended as it is. secondly, there will be a budget point of order vote and we do need 60 votes to waive that budget point of order. and i will vote yes to waive it, as a strong fiscal conservative. because this is necessary to get this national flood insurance system right and to make it fiscally sustainable. in fact, over the ten-year budget window that we normally use in scoring, this bill has no score over those ten years, it just has some scores in some intermediate periods of time which gives rise to the budget point of order. so i urge my colleagues to vote to waive that point of order knowing that there is no score over ten years. also knowing that quite franklily, the fiscal assumptions about the current law are enormously flawed. the notion that we're going to make the national flood insurance program more stable and more fiscally sustainable by having a bunch of premiums go up to $27,000 a year on a modest middle-class home is crazy. that's not going to get us to a better place. that's going

and i'm really impressed with senator to too toomey, how hards worked on his legislation to create an trng to the base legislation that's -- an alternative to the base legislation that's before us today. i don't think it's justified because it adds to the debt of the united states. we don't need to be adding to the debt. anytime somebody has a problem, colleagues, and they propose a solution, the tendency is not to find reductions in spending somewhere to fix this problem that they have; they look around and see if they can just borrow the money and not pay for the extension. so under the -- under this proposal by senator toomey, it appears it would violate the budget point of order that says we would raise the debt ceiling -- i mean, it would spend more but it would not add to the deficit, because the additional spend something paid for by premiums paid for by -- spending is paid for by premiums paid for by the flood insurance beneficiaries. it is not taxing the american citizens to subsidize a group of people who have flood insurance when the general citizenry does not have flood in

toomey: thank you mr. president. and i want to thank my colleague, senator casey for organizing this brief tribute that is just so much deserved by the service members we're going to be acknowledging in a few minutes. i'd like to begin by extending my deepest condolences to the family friends loved ones of these true pennsylvania heroes. in the lives that they led and the cause force which they died, these men represent all that's great about this great country. some enlisted right after graduating from high school, during those very tough and grueling days and weeks in basic training i suspect they'd never heard of the places in afghanistan where they would make this sacrifice. these pennsylvanians of course join a long list of soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and coast guard members who've given their lives for this country to include those who gave their lives in world war ii, the korean war the vietnam washings and of course the -- the vietnam war, and of course the ongoing war against violent radical islamists

any of the amendments prior to votes in relation to the amendments, that it be in order for senator toomey to modify his amendment with the text of rubio 2704 and hagan 2702. that there be 30 minutes of debate equally divided on each amendment or motion to waive a budget point of order, if made, that there be up to an hour of general debate on the bill equally divided between the proponents and opponents, that amendments in this agreement must be offered prior to 3:00 p.m. on wednesday, january 29. that's tomorrow. that it be in order for senator crapo or designee to raise a point of order against the bill, that if such a point of order is raised, senator menendez or designee be recognized to move to waive the point of order that. upon the use or yielding back of that time, the senate proceed to the vote on the -- proceed to the vote on the motion to waive, if made; that if the motion to waive is agreed to, the senate proceed to votes in relation to the amendments in the order listed. that upon disposition of the amendments, the bill be read a third time, the senate proceed to vote on pass

toomey: thank you, mr. president. i rise to address this situation we find ourselves in on the unemployment bill. i have to say the, this most recent episode in which the majority leader refuses to permit an open process, refuses to allow debate, refuses to allow kinds of amendments that republicans would like to offer to improve this bill is very disturbing and part of a very well established trend now. it's actually shocking to me that over the last six months, since july of last year through today this, body has voted on a grand total of four republican amendments. four recorded votes on republican amendments in six months. under every previous majority leader, under every previous majority, the senate didn't work this way. i mean, it would be routine to have four votes in a morning before we broke for lunch. we've had four votes on our ideas that have been permitted in six months. so we are systematically being shut out of the process, and what's particularly maddening about this is that my colleagues on the other

san francisco because this happens periodically where we go into a housing crisis mode and avoid toomey vixes. ~ too many evictions. it sets a bad time. i want to give supervisor avalos a lot of credit for really listening and accepting the amendments where concerns were raised. yesterday in committee, we discussed in-depth the issue around the nuances around temporary evictions and whether a tenant wants to return or doesn't want to return and what level of proof you need and supervisor avalos accepted i think a very reasonable amendment to distinguish among temporary evictions when the tenant does not return. and supervisor avalos also accepted the amendment from supervisor farrell around the retroactivity date which i thought was a very he reasonable amendment. supervisor avalos accepted the amendment from supervisor tang supported by supervisor yee to reduce the amount of time that you can't do a merger, demolition or conversion after an omi recognizing that there are differences between omi evictionses and ellis act evictions. and then supervisor avalos accepted an amendment to mak

, with the final ten minutes equally divided between senator menendez or his designee and senator toomey or his designee, with senator toomey controlling the final five minutes, that at 11:15 a.m., the senate proceed to votes in relation to the following amendments -- toomey number 2707 as modified, coburn number 2697, merkley number 2709 as modified and heller number 2700. further, that upon disposition of the heller amendment, the senate recess until 2:00 p.m. at 2:00 p.m. when the senate reconvenes, the senate proceed to vote on passage of the bill as amended. finally, there be two minutes of debate prior to each vote equally divided in the usual form and that all after the first votes be ten-minute votes. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. whitehouse: let me now ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: and further, ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calend

when i hear so consistently, i hear very consistently stories like pat toomey's who struggled for a very long time to get a great education and did exceptionally well in life here it i hear story after story of decimation. it seems like in america we have a tragedy. within every challenge he -- then every travesty is try and -- triumphed. i've walked the streets of trust and greenville -- charleston and greenville. real people and places. they are hungry and first he for someone to present an american solution. i believe if we do that we change the course. we rewrite history for the great and patience ever assembled on earth. that name is america. god bless you. [applause] on the next "washington journal ," grading ethics and corruption. then the response to the chemical spill in west virginia. and the president of the center for progressive reform. and a discussion about mandatory life sentences for young terminal offenders. our guest is from catholic university law school. that is all starting at 7:00 eastern. we will look for your calls, tweets, and facebook comments. this weekend, wh

i might also throw senator toomey into that mix as well. one of the things that you have to understand and i think that most of your viewers do, is that the great lake states and that's what you're really talking about there, those states have suffered incredible industrialization. so, in a number of cities, places that don't get covered much in national media, western new york, head across, they've had a lot of job losses and people have been put into very tough situations. right now, it's some of the cold e weather that we've had in years. lot of snow. this is not a time when businesses are putting on new workers. it's not a time when it's going to be easy to find jobs. and so, it's very, very clear to the voters in those states that these benefits have to be extended. i think the pressure on those republican senators will be quite intense. >> the interesting question to me is whether the political power of this group of people who are in the broad sense say -- are relatively small, whether the plight of those folks reverberates out past

2qiñ Ñthçz >> here's senator toomey and senator manchin from west virginia. >> i think this5ozhñ was> one democrat and one republican. >> they tried to move>jfoq legislation forward. this was>esñ obviously, gun legislationw-uy was big in/gc÷ t week. this is a protest down on the capital grounds. >> i keeptn++ some notes, yes. i haveeoó ,mdsome notes scribbd away. a book some day. i hear some people said, you should write a book.-ç stored up here. i love at pictures and i can remember the stories behind the pictures. that's one of the greatqísz÷ ths that i think i like toj÷ have a little bit of down time which is notia$x a1g÷ lot of. >> attfñ this point, do i this whenever you visit us. we have to tell your)ç wife kat, is the manager of our radio station and has beent[ax for ye. the last time you were here, she was doing the same thing. >> she's very supportive. obviously, doing her job like i have. traveling as much as i do. she is a great wife"-

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. >> here's senator toomey and senator manchin from west virginia. >> i think this was on the gun legislation. obviously, not two people you think would come together on this. but they did. >> one democrat and one republican. >> they tried to move the legislation forward. this was obviously, gun legislation was big in d.c. that week. this is a protest down on the capital grounds. >> do you keep notes? >> i keep some notes, yes. i have some notes scribbled away. i have some on my computer that i keep on some trips. i know my wife wants me to write a book someday. i hear some people said, you should write a book. i have a lot luckily still stored up here. i love to be able to look back at pictures and i can remember the stories behind the pictures. that's one of the great things that i think i like to do when i have a little bit of down time which is not a lot of. >> at this point, do i this -- i do this whenever you visit us. we have to tell your wife kate is the manager of our radio station and has been for years. the last time you were here, she was doing the same thing. >> she's very suppor

so we're reviewing the toomey amendment. he has been the lead opponent of our effort. i don't believe his amendment is helpful, but until i read it, i won't be able to give a definitive. senator isakson will have to give his views on it. senator menendez will have to give his views on it, and we'll figure it out. but we are going to bring relief to the five million people that have done nothing wrong, middle-class families, many of them, some of them very poor families that have been living in places for generations. and because fema can't get its flood maps right, because fema can't get the affordability study done, they're going to be kicked out of their homes? talk about misguided regulation. and i hope that mitch mcconnell, our leader, republican leader, talking about misguided regulation, would put a little muscle here into helping us. he's been cooperative, and i thank him. senator reid has been putting a lot of muscle into this, and i thank him. but i hope people will come to the floor and speak about the importance of this bill. we'll figure out this amendment

we think that there might be amendments that want to be offered by senator toomey, senator coburn, senator crapo on our side, senator hagan, senator merkley. we're working through that now. senator blunt's amendment we believe could be incorporated into the bill. senator tester's amendment could be incorporated into the base of the bill with no harm to the underlying balance of the bill. and so i just came to the floor to say to everyone we are really making progress, and if we could work on these few amendments just in the next hour or two, the leaders might be able to come and ask unanimous consent for us to get on this bill in the morning and actually finish it before we go into appropriations. so if everyone would cooperate just a little bit more on this, we could have several amendments, limit the time to, let's say, 30-minute debate on each amendment. we would end up with about six or so amendments. we could fit it into tomorrow morning's work period. that is my hope. if we don't, then we're going to have to stay here, i think, even after the appropriations bill and get this, because

. >> senator toomey. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and dr. yellen, thank you for being here. thanks for our chat earlier this week. i appreciate that. i want to get back to where some of the issues senator corker was raising regarding monetary policy but first i just think it is important to stress, i know you're very well aware of these but the adverse consequence that is we're already experiencing from directly as a result of the extraordinary monetary policy is really problematic i think. we are, we continue to have this artificially suppressed, cost of funding these excessively large deficits we run. it contributes to, i would argue, fiscal imbalances. we are punishing middle class savers for years now. people who spent and entire working lifetime to choosing so forgo consumption, they decided they would save and have a little bit of income in their retirement. now they have no income, because they earn nothing on their savings. they do watch as it gradually gets eroded by a low level of inflation when they have no income from it. we have exacerbated the problems of under

when i hear so consistently, i hear very consistently stories like pat toomey's who struggled for a very time to get a great education and did exceptionally well in life here it i hear story after story of decimation. it seems like in america we have a tragedy. within every challenge, there is a triumph. i've walked the streets of charleston and greenville. they are hungry and thirsty for someone to present an american solution. i believe if we do that we change the course. we rewrite history for the great and patience ever assembled on earth. that name is america. god bless you. [applause] >> this weekend on c-span, watch chris christie second term inauguration ceremony at the trenton war memorial. sunday at 10:35 a.m. eastern on c-span. and british prime minister david cameron talks about the andnitarian aid to syria the issue of refugees. you can want to an ibm east are also here on c-span. talks abouternor why he adopted that health care law and open insurance exchanges in his state. during remarks at an event hosted by families usa. here are some of his remarks. today we change the

senator coburn, for example -- senator toomey was down here talking about this today. but senator coburn had an amendment which would have ended unemployment compensation for millionaires and billionaires. now, what could be more common sense than that? why can't the senate -- republicans and democrats alike -- come together to vote on such amendments? you'll have to ask the majority leader about that. because the senate voted on a similar amendment in 2011 and voted 100-0 -- 100-0. but still the majority leader decided to block this amendment on this bill, even though it would have improved the integrity of the unemployment insurance program. many others of my colleagues worked in good faith with the majority leader through the weekend to try to come up with another option. senators collins, hatch, inhofe, paul, scott, thune, and portman all filed amendments which would have created jobs in a variety of ways and help grow the economy. what better way to deal with the problem of unemployment than to help grow the economy and create jobs? the alternative seems to be, wl

pending but that we know of, a rubio/nelson, a reid of rhode island, a coburn, merkley, a blubt, and toomey who was on the floor the senator from pennsylvania indicated he wants to offer a substitute to what we're proposing. as far as -- i'm not the manager of this bill. it's not my authority to make these definitive statements. senator me then does and senator isaacson will ultimately decide the strategy, but as far as it, because we've been working very hard together to move this bill to final passage here, as far as as i understand it, these are the only amendments that people would like to offer, and there doesn't seem to be any objection to offering them. in addition, if people want 51 votes or if they want 60 votes, we're very open to that as well, and we can pass the bill with 51 votes. we can pass the bill with 60 votes. so we're open. [laughter] , you know, because that's the game that is played here. you say, well, we want 60 no we want 51 or 50. we can take it in any arrhythmia tick. you want 51 we'll deliver it. if you want 60, we can deliver 60 votes. we have done the homework

toomey, i appreciate that but the point is everything we've heard it it reiterated a number of times here is that we don't know but you don't know, you testified before. hhs doesn't know, it's a concern but is speculative, right? >> to the underlined portion of healthcare.gov, absolutely. >> think you. mr. krush, out of your expertise can you give me off the top of your head what you believe to be the biggest data breach? this is something that's common, target, neiman marcus is in the news today. are you aware of others? >> interestingly enough, when it comes to breaches i think target is a perfect example of someone that had the capability to identify a breach. the thing that is of most concern to me is there are a lot of industry and even government organizations that don't have the capability -- >> so, target, neiman marcus in the news. the recall heartland payment system data breach back in 2008? >> yes. >> one hundred reforming credit cards exposed. how about tjx companies in 2006? 94 million credit cards exposed. axel on which exposed e-mails of millions of customers, over 108

by the most conservative democrat, joe manchin, and one of the most conservative , thelicans, pat toomeyote was 57-43. as my son said, dad, how did you lose? you had the majority of the votes. sun, only in the senate, on the closure vote would that happen. he said, is that constitutional? i said, no, it's not in the constitution. it is the rule of the senate. it's a procedural rule where the majority can block the majority. i think that is emblematic of what is happening -- has happened down here. the minority blocking the will of the majority. in the house, it is an absolute even to that refuses commonsenseup, proposals that make sense. there are other proposals that relate to mental health that need to be addressed and put forward as well. clearly those issues -- because they don't involve the government -- and when we ought to be able to move forward. is immoral in the face of what our citizens are going through. host: roll call reports that senator mansion -- manchin told reporters that president obama is waiting until after elections to do anything on gun control, specifically backg

i was glad to see pat toomey take a couple of courageous stance is well on a lot of different issues. i think it's really good news that the republican party has broken out of my region and is now starting to influence elections in the northeast, the midwest and who knows maybe in the far west, and here is the thing. if we want to be a national party again, we are going to have to do that. in 2008/2009, 2010, there wasn't a single republican representing anybody in new england. hopefully we are turning that around because we need to be an international party again. it's not only good for republicans but good for the tea party set -- thank you very much. thank you guys. >> signing books. [applause] >> if we could be as orderly as possible. [inaudible conversations] >> he "top down" is the name of the book, a novel of the kennedy assassination and joining us is the author jim lehrer. mr. lehrer and novel about the kennedy assassination. >> that's right. it's based on an experience i had on november 22, 1963. i was a reporter for the dallas times which was the afternoon newspaper in dall