udall: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. udall: mr. president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. udall: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: thank you, mr. president. i'd like to ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of s. res 286 and the senate proceed to its consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 286 recognizing may 16, 2012, as hereditary angioede ph*eu s awareness day and so forth. the presiding officer: without objection the committee will be discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. udall: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the inouye

udall, very perplexed, went back and briefed the. and he said, i didn't know what that meant. it was obvious there was something in his mind. he also called the german ambassador. and said to him, the same thing, essentially. we are going to solve the berlin problem he went back in a message saying, i don't know what this means but we have to take it very seriously. the foreign minister in the meeting with kennedy, which became famous because kennedy knew about the missiles but didn't tell him, told kennedy that he was trying planning to go to the united nations that october and would hope to meet with kennedy and settle the berlin problem. this would be what they call, special interest that, perhaps the missiles in cuba as one of their missions, one of their missions, to begin putting pressure on kennedy very directly about berlin. and that and the soviet forces on the west german border to tell them to shut up this time. and perhaps perhaps, even to impress -- the kinds of things they would okay to exert pressure on the allies to get them out of berlin. later, he told his so

senator udall, bipartisan fighting really tough, particularly severe in 2011. do you remedy that problem to a dissatisfied american base of people that are watching what you guys are doing there on the hill and trying to come up with a better 2012? >> 2011 was a tough year. we all agree. i'm glad it's in the rear-view mirror. as lisa said, this is symbolism tonight, but it's important symboli symbolism. this is an important speech, it ought to be treated that way. we build in small steps. we look at areas where we might perhaps agree. i think overall we all think the economy ought to be our number one focus. we ought to look i think at extending the payroll tax cut, we ought to pay for it. i think fast tracking the president's request on streamlining government agencies, i think we all agree we have to cut some spending here. in particular i think the senate's history had been one where you work across the aisle. lisa has great role models in ted steventis, her father. again, final comment, i think we have to remember we're on the red, white, and blue team. in

let's begin with you, senator udall. in fact, does this work?it and now, the next time you're going to do it, it really hasn't gone that well. why do the date night? are you guys dating night tonight? i mean, tuesday night? >> soledad, hey, good morning, rob. happy new year to senator portman. just because last year was a tough political year, and it was, doesn't mean we don't keep drying. we are part of a big family, the american family. the state of the union is a serious evening. we should treat the speech seriously. and i think particularly in the context of the terrible shooting last year that occurred in tucson, to honor and support the way in which gabrielle giffords works in the congress. i think we have to keep at it. the feeling i have is that it does make a difference. over time, you get to know the people that you work with. it's hard to demonize a fellow legislator if you know something about his or her background and their family and so on. so we have to keep at this. in the spirit of tip o'neill and ronald reagan as well, who foug

we have from the state of colorado the son of mo udall, senator mark udall.se] >> and a member of our own arizona delegation who was win of the first people to come to the hospital that fateful day. >> and, most importantly, the people who gave us congressman giffords, gloria and spencer giffords. [applause] this next group i will introduce as a group. you have heard a lot about them. they have been faithfully carrying on the congresswoman's mission since january 8 without a pause. the congresswoman's staff from the washington, d.c. office, and other offices, would you please stand. [cheers and applause] >> what an honor it is to serve the congresswoman with you. now it is my distinct pleasure and honor to introduce a person who by now needs no introduction. congresswoman giffords' husband and constant support of encouragement. mark kelly has not only tended to the congresswoman but to those who lost loved ones or who were wounded january 8. he is a man of incredible strength and resolve. please welcome captain mark kel kelly. [cheers and applause] >> thank y

resolutions have been passed in los angeles boulder oakland and albania and november senator mark udallnd others introduced a constitutional amendment to overturn the supreme court's decision so the momentum is there but what are the chances that this could actually work or earlier i caught up with james host of the young turks and i first asked him what he thinks of the resolutions that are being passed so if you city council voted but is actually going to make congress act. well yes and no so if you're asking is it going to specifically lead to the resolution that we're looking for no because for example in new york city doing this is fantastic but you really need new york state to call for a constitutional convention to get a constitutional amendment if you're going to do it at the state level but yes in the sense that all this is great momentum because it's all these different cities and the supreme court of montana and so many amendments right now in the house in the senate saying enough is enough it's so obvious that money is corrupting politics and we've got to do something about

the old mall udall joke -- mo udall joke. "would you think about mo udall for president?" twice." in california, they think you are not going to go to every town and city. it is something people do reserve judgment. but more important even than that is that people in america believe they should vote. people in new hampshire believe they have a responsibility to examine the candidates and to make a judgment. i am not saying people in the rest of the country do not feel they have that responsibility to vote. but they do not have the unique responsibility that people in new hampshire have about how important and what a determining factor what happens here in new hampshire is all about. that is why it is so key that this first in the nation status be preserved. [applause] >> at the risk of sounding a little bit like a heretic -- >> i was at someone's home. after he finished two hours, he said, "that was great, but people in my neighborhood are mad, because you have not been in my neighborhood, and you are not going to get that vote." bob said, "give me your name and address."

udall: thank you, mr. president.nd i very much appreciate joining all my colleagues down here who have been speaking about the citizens united case and i think what you're seeing in the senate is what you're seeing in the country. the citizens of this country are concerned about unlimited corporate funds in campaigns, and united states senators are concerned about that and are standing up and speaking out and as i know our presiding officer offering constitutional amendments and trying to resolve the situation we have before us. two years ago this week, the supreme court issued its misguided decision in citizens united versus f.e.c. citizens united was a victory for special interests at the expense of the average american. it held that corporations deserve the same free speech protections as the individual americans. it enables these corporations to spend freely from their treasuries on campaign advertising. it all gave rise to so-called superpacs that we're seeing too much of. they can raise and spend unlimited fund

senator mark udall is once again leading the way.> with new hampshire in the rear view, the remaining gop candidates looking ahead to south carolina, and there are some new polling out there that might make jon huntsman a wee bit nervous. i want to bring in joe johns. you're in columbia, south carolina, a big grin on your face. this is just kind of fun. who's this comedian who is ahead of jon huntsman? >> reporter: it's unbelievable. i laughed out loud when i saw it. stephen colbert. how could he enup one point ahead of jon huntsman? answer. he's actually from south carolina, so it's not that big of a surprise, but still colbert the comedienne is ahead of jon huntsman in the polls, just one sign of the kind of uphill battle jon huntsman is facing here in south carolina, brooke. >> i guess that's a screen grab. stephen colbert can remember and live forever in infamy. how has he been received there in south carolina, his first real appearance? santorum -- excuse me, huntsman. >> reporter: huntsman, right. he's in this building right no

we have from the state of colorado, the son of mo udall, senator mark udall.us congresswoman gifford, gloria and spencer gifford. [applause] this next group i will introduce as a group. you have heard a lot about them. they have been faithfully carrying on the mission of this january 8 without a pause. the congresswoman staff from the washington d.c. office, the tucson office, would you please stand? [applause] [applause] thank you all. what an honor it is to serve the congresswoman with you. and now it's my distinct pleasure and honor to introduce a person who by now needs no introduction kaunda, congresswoman's constant support. mark kelly has not only tended to the congresswoman but also to all of those who lost loved ones or who were wounded on january 8. he is a man of incredible strength and resolve. please welcome, captain mark kelly. [applause] [applause] >> thank you. it's a little chilly out here tonight. i thought this was the desert. good evening everybody. as often happens here in tucson, the sun was seen rising up over the ring con mountains earl

worked out on capitol hill is a young guy 1970 with common cause, campaign finance reform, and with udall. my boss. the problem was pervasive then. fundamental issue that came up with the schemes was free speech. every time you came up some way to regulate the election process, you ran into free speech. we have been struggling with that ever since. last decision finally was the nail, last nail in the coffin. you are not going to solve this problem and give the public finance only and give the corporations and special interest groups and money out of dominating our political process unless we have a constitutional amendment that basically mandates public finance of campaigns and free speech for a period of time during a campaign by candidates and their organizations. >> so -- to the extent that -- extent that you are -- have you absolutely indicated sort of this long trajectory what i find distress sing this idea that an individual campaign -- that of president obama or bush or any of them previously, candidates played within the system that's open to them. we do not expect candidates -- a

we have, from the state of colorado, senator march udall -- mark udall and one of the first people to spencer deferreds. [cheers and applause] this next grew by would introduce they have been faithfully carrying nonsense generate without a pause. the congressmen -- congresswoman staff from the washington d.c. office would you please stand? [cheers and applause] thank you. what an honor it is to serve with do. now is my distinct pleasure and honor to introduce a person who by now needs no introduction. congresswoman giffords has been of constant source of support and encouragement, mark kelly not only tended to the congresswoman, but all of those who lost loved ones or were wounded on january 8, a man of incredible strength and resolve, please welcome capt. mark kelly. [cheers and applause] >> thank you. it is a little chilly out here tonight. [laughter] i thought this was the desert? good evening. as often happens in tucson, the son was seen rising up over the mountains this morning but unlike one year ago today we all suffered a terrible loss. those of us who survived were forever ch

we have, from the state of colorado, the son of mo udall, senator mark udall.ngressman giffords, gloria and spencer giffords. [cheers and applause] this next group i will introduce, you have heard a lot about them. they have been faithfully caring on the mission since january 8 without applause. but congresswoman's staff from washington d.c. office, the tucson office would you please stand? [applause] [applause] [applause] thank you all. what an honor it is to serve a congresswoman with you. now it is my distinct pleasure and honor to introduce a person who by now needs no introduction. congresswoman giffords husband begged is a constant support and encouragement. marked kelly has not only tended to the congresswoman but also to all of those who have loved ones or are wounded on january 8. he is a man of incredible strength and resolve. please welcome, captain mark kelly. [applause] [applause] >> thank you. it's a little chilly out here tonight. i thought this was the desert. good evening everybody. as often happens here in tucson, the sun was seen rising up ov

worked out on capitol hill is a young guy 1970 with common cause, campaign finance reform, and with udallime you came up some way to regulate the election process, you ran into free speech. we have been struggling with that ever since. last decision finally was the nail, last nail in the coffin. you are not going to solve this problem and give the public finance only and give the corporations and special interest groups and money out of dominating our political process unless we have a constitutional amendment that basically mandates public finance of campaigns and free speech for a period of time during a campaign by candidates and their organizations. >> so -- to the extent that -- extent that you are -- have you absolutely indicated sort of this long trajectory what i find distress sing this idea that an individual campaign -- that of president obama or bush or any of them previously, candidates played within the system that's open to them. we do not expect candidates -- any more than we expect mitt romney to pay more in taxes than legally required we dough not expect them to act in hy

the great games, udall, hayden, macfarland, fanon, kyl, rhodes, and goldwater.plause] and yes, there were women too, who have really taken their place in those pages, women like lorna lockwood. she was elected to the arizona supreme court in 1960 and served as vice chief justice and chief justice. she became the first woman chief justice in arizona and in u.s. history. [applause] we are proud to be their children, proud of what they gave us. arizonans, native-born and coming from all parts of the nation and the world. found their opportunity to succeed or fail in the last great frontier of the continental united states and built this state. so let us here today make this pledge for arizona's second century. we will not betray their confidence or squander our state inheritance. arizona will remain the last frontier of opportunity. [applause] i have always held a special place in my heart for it arizona's pioneers. i have always been inspired by their strength, their sense of family and heritage, their reference for tradition's. many of the images you will see o

udall: mr., i rise today as we enter a new year and i rise to honor a brave young soldier who sadly did not see this new year. army sergeant pernell ajeda died while serving in afghanistan. he was 33 years old. at times like this, words of elected officials seem so inadequate. words will not ease the profound loss of staff sergeant ajeda's family. words will not fully express our gratitude for staff sergeant ajeda's service to our nation. but the death of a young soldier like staff sergeant ajeda demands our attention, it demands our respect and it demands that we remember. pernell ajeda just wanted to serve his country. he enlisted in the new mexico national guard in 2006. he was assigned to c company, first battalion, 171st aviation regiment, and he served honorably over the last five and a half years. his journey ended in the course of that service. we are forever in his debt. when we talk about our fallen soldiers, we honor their sacrifice and we also honor their life. pernell ajeda was born

morris udall for hours on a ran for president of the united states.ce babbitt from arizona ran for president of united states. and i come from arizona, ran for president of the united states. arizona may be the only state in america where mothers don't tell other children that some day they can grow up and the president. [laughter] i am very honored to be here with my friend john kerry. as he was talking, i was thinking about when he and i first came to the senate not to far apart, there were a number of senators who had served in the vietnam war. at the beginning of 2013, there will just be two of us remaining. i would again point out that our effort on behalf of normalization of relations between the united states of america was driven by the fact that back in that, time into the 1980's, the war was over 1973, into the 1980's and 1990's, the wounds of that war were still fresh and unfortunately still divided our country. in many respects, it prevented a lot of our vietnam veterans from being able to come all the way home. i am very proud of the work

. >> funniest candidate ever to run was mo udal. i went to a barbershop, i'm running for president, i forget the punch line, go ahead. >> good story, mike. >> yeah, we were just laughing about that. >> okay. >> can i get those 15 seconds of my life back? joining us now from manchester, new hampshire, nbc's chief white house correspondent and political director and the host of the daily rundown, our good friend chuck todd. chuck, do you know the punch line to that joke? >> no, i think he did finally get it. we were just laughing about it. there was one moe udaul joke. it was all rewind, it was the same jokes that mccain told in 2000, told in 2008, and he brought them back. it was great to hear. >> got a great eugene mccarthy story. >> let's save that till the end. the cnn poll, romney up 30 points on ron paul and on the question of electability, it's pretty remarkable, 65% say mitt romney is the most electable candidate. the next guy on that list, newt gingrich has 9%. >> right. >> is there any way mitt romney -- he's going to win, i

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 of the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. reid: the guest chaplain, from the state of louisiana, is my understanding senator vitter would thraoeubg say a few words. -- like to say a few words. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. vitter: thank you, mr. president. it is my true honor, joy, to help host reverend smith today. he is the senior pastor of mount zion missionary baptist church in pioneer, louisiana. he's from rayville, louisiana. all of this is in northeast louisiana, the monroe area. reverend smith is very distinguished and has brought real hope to so many people in so many communities in that area. first of all, as a spiritual leader, a leader of his congregation and so many others. secondly, as a true leader in fighting truancy, fighting dropout rates very effectively and also developing