udall: mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent that senators hagan, kerry, begich and franken be added to my amendment, numbered 2985. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: mr. president, i believe we are reaching the end of our time designated to debate this amendment. the presiding officer: all the democratic time has expired. mr. udall: i would like to add a couple final remarks to the remarks i made earlier. i think we have heard a compelling reason to remove section 313 from the national defense authorization act, national security, energies security. let's stand with our military leadership, let's stand with our n.c.o.'s, let's stand with our enlisted personnel and ensure the military can continue to invest in this very important area of energy security which will save lives, create economic opportunity and make sure that we can project force abroad and protect the values we hold so dear. i urge my colleagues to vote for this amendment. i think at 2:00 we have a tentati

udall: mr. president, we're in a quorum call, is that correct? the presiding officer: the senator is correct. mr. udall: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: mr. president, i 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 the chair lay before the senate a message from the house with respect to s. 743. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: resolved that the bill from the senate, s. 743, entitled an act to amend chapter 43 of title 25 united states code do pass with an amendment. mr. udall: i'd ask unanimous consent the senate concur in the house amendment, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate and any statements relating to the matter be placed in the record as if read. the presiding officer: without

udall: madam president? mr.ccain: before the senator goes ahead, madam president, i ask unanimous consent that lieutenant commander todd latwick, a navy fellow in my office, and interns daniel edwards and natalie bismarck, be allowed floor privileges during the senate's debate on s. 3254, the national defense authorization act. and i also ask unanimous consent that my opening statement be made a part of the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. udall: madam president, pursuant to senator levin's question about a time agreement, i would -- i would ask unanimous consent that the majority side have 30 minutes to speak to my amendment and the republican side have 15 minutes to speak to the amendment. the presiding officer: is there an objection? without objection. mr. udall: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. udall: i will speak to my amendment for 10, 12, maybe 15 minutes and i know sena

i know you just spoke about it with mark udall.t an e-mail last night from speaker boehner's team forwarding a politico story showing how boehner would play hardball with the tax cuts. there's no discussion of raising them. that's the million dollar question. no one knows the answer to that right now. what we're hearing from republicans in the house is if the president is re-elected, the choice is up to him, quote-unquote. will he work with them through comprehensive tax reform to grow the base on which to accrue revenue or go to the mat for the 250 or above? if it throws down at that and there's no movement, republicans say there's a lot of obstructionism. that's what they charge. if the president is willing to not allow those tax rates to expire, perhaps they can work on other things. the one thing we hear consistently is if president obama has the big vision for the next four years to get re-elected and wants to get immigration reform. there's some consensus, some sort of bipartisanship with the fiscal cliff issues or else every

udall: mr.president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado is recognized. mr. udall: i'd ask that the quorum call be lived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: i want to assure my colleagues that i have a unanimous consent unanimous consent. specifically, i have five unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. i ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and that these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: mr. president, i return again to the floor of the senate to urge all of us here to extend the production tax credit for wind energy. this is a crucial tax credit that supports an industry that employs literally tens of thousands of workers across our entire country, and our failure -- our failure here in the congress to quickly extend this job-creating credit has already halted further development and

something needs to be done in a senate floor speech in may earlier this year reid praised senators tom udall and jeff merkley who desperately tried to pass filibuster reform at the beginning of two thousand and eleven reid said these two young fine senators said it was time we changed the rules in the senate and we did it they were right the rest of us were wrong or most of us now anyway what a shame. now reid has a chance to correct this mistake and it looks like he'll try to do just that in a press conference that day reid said in regard to the filibuster i think the rules have been abused and we are going to work to change them we will not do away with the filibuster but will make the senate a more meaningful place we're going to make it so we can get things done on day one of the new senator there will be a small window of a few hours open for harry reid and democrats to reform the filibuster and all it will take to change the senate rules is fifty one votes a simple majority considering the democrats are going to be entering the new senate with as many as fifty five votes this is a real

you will vote for candidates like michael bennett and mark udall, who have shown themselves to work acrossines to get things done but also know there are some principles you do not compromise, because the price in washington is cutting deals but will kick folks off of financial aid or get rid of planned parenthood, just to give millionaires a tax cut, that is not a deal worth having. i am not ready to give up. i am not ready to give up on that fight. i hope you will not be there. -- aren't either. i hope you have some fight left in there. the folks at the very top in this country do not need another champion in washington. they will always have access to influence. they can hire lobbyists. the men and women i meet on the campaign trial every day. she needs a champion. a small restaurant owner who needs to expand -- who needs a loan to expand after the banks turned him down. he needs a champion. the cleaning staff working overtime in a hotel trying to save up to buy a first home or send their kids to college, they need a chance. the auto worker who never thought he would work at a plant aga

has of resource planning, responsibilities, and they do lose respect for manufacturing very quickly udall get there. my drum community is open sourced we're out there being super transparent. as things got more complicated restart to look like ge with roles and responsibilities come as supply chain management, accountants, law yers when you deal with this scale there is a reason why america is a leading manufacturer of the world because we are pretty good at using technology there is not a radical new concept but getting to where they are faster. >> that changeover what is required to get started. >> but you don't have to build the structure. >> all-day -- although they use traditional manufacturing, they have community at the core but the recognition your customers are part of the innovation model is a lesson applied to traditional manufacturing. >> you're listening to the commonwealth club radio into a -- interview talking to chris anderson author of "makers" the new industrial revolution." i liked this is not just a business phenomenon but the personal aspect making feigns with your da

doing some things in the future to change it but mark udall are already trying to to make an amendment to take out some of the controversial aspect of it that wasn't put into place why is it that these lawmakers are taking this up again i'm not sure why i mean i think that if you and we're really you know this is a long document the n.d.a. we're only talking about two sections section ten twenty one section ten twenty two which in essence allows the executive branch. to strip an american citizen of their constitutional rights to due process and to hold them in military facilities that's what we're question a very very tiny part of the bill which i think you know you don't have to be a legal scholar to determine is clearly unconstitutional mean the agreed just violation of constitutional rights is really undeniable so that's your argument and it's a very solid and kind of simple one what is the argument of the government who says that this is in fact a viable law well the argument of the government is that we are not covered persons . and that's also part of the language of the bill cov

will take up right after the first of the year is the proposal by senator merkley of oregon senator udallnew mexico to reform the filibuster saying if you want to gum up the senate's works, you have to stand up and talk. the way jimmy stewart. >> eliot: with a wobble and almost fall down. >> you can't say i'm going to filibuster and then brings things to a halt. senator reid said he's sympathetic to this idea. it would be enormously important especially on the issue of judicial nominations. >> eliot: if they do not do it, they will a lost an enormous opportunity to move forward. >> they're worried that some day they'll nobody the minority. >> david: the last question, will the chief justice get the oath correct this time? >> boy you know what, i can't wait to find out. a bit of trivia, it will be january 21st because the 20th falls on a sunday and by tradition the inaugural is never held on a sunday. we'll have to wait an extra day to find out. >> eliot: i knew there was a reason we called you. >> the inauguration trivia. that's me. jeffrey toobin. author of "the oath" out on book shelves

that's what senator tom udall have been advocating for some time. i feel good about our chances in a month or so. >> i always hear from beltway folks that no majority party should ever want to change the rules about this because you will wish you hadn't when your party becomes the minority. if you and the democrats were in the minority some time during the next term, could you live with the rule changes that are being proposed? >> i could. after elections, the public thinks things should happen. it's clear the public spoke loudly. they reelected a president who carried almost all of the swing states. won by 100 electoral votes. picked up senate seats where the numbers were stacked against us. going back to 1964 numbers, literally, and picked up house seats and didn't win a majority because of redistricting if you look at the additive numbers, all the numbers of house votes for democrats and republicans across the country. it's clear the public wants something done. and mcconnell doesn't want us to do any of these things. that's the importance of mak

senators americaly udal and others. if we're going to do the people's business we can't get bogged down in filibusters and we need real reform there. >> eliot: as always it is a great joy to have vermont's independent senator bernie sanders on the show. thank you for joining us. >> thank you eliot. >> eliot: for more on impure thoughts and what it could mean, i'm joined by ken vogel. ken, thanks for joining us. >> great to be with you eliot. >> eliot: how does grover norquist put down this rebellion in his own party? what muscles does he flex? have? >> what he has is money, and he has a lot for it. his organization spent $16 million more than they had ever spent on expressed at very casscy, the ads that explicitly say vote for or against someone in the case of the 2012 election though, he was exclusively saying vote against democrats and vote for republicans. so whether he is willing to use this money now, he has the revenue stream to go after republicans who support vote orish or just express support tax increases of a

>> tom udall a colleague of ours when we were a. g.s is pushing this hard along with a whole lot of other people. i just don't understand how one person anonymously can hold up the rest of the country. so we need to stop that. that's part of stopping the gridlock. we'll be moving forward with a rational approach, still looking at filibuster in the traditional mr. smith goes to washington sense but taking the irrationality out of this process is critically important. >> eliot: good luck getting the irrationality out of washington. if somebody can do it, will you. senator-elect, heidi heitkamp, great to chat with you. >> bye-bye. >> eliot: the when alea was born i definitely was not prepared. i just asked myself, "am i doing all that i can, am i doing the best that i can for her?" my whole family was so thrilled and so excited. it was just the start of a wonderful journey. i feel lucky every single day that i have my parents, i have my grandparents and that alea has grandparents and great-grandparents. sometimes they'll joke around an

i also want to thank senators barrasso, harkin, tom udall, moran, and coons for their bipartisan support and dedication to the passage and ratification of this important treaty. now is the time for the full senate to affirm our nation's leadership on disability issues by ratifying this important treaty. and we should do so with strong, bipartisan support that has always characterized the efforts we've had on disabilities. the support 2340 for this treats strong and bipartisan. it is supported by organizations including the united states international council on disabilities, the american association of people with disabilities, the disability rights education and defense fund, and the national disability rights network. in addition, it is supported by 21 different veterans groups including the wounded warrior project, the american legion, disabled american veterans and veterans of foreign war. president george h.w. bush, who signed the americans with disabilities act into law, has called for ratification of this treaty. there's been no more passionate advocate -- and in i'm so honord tha

we need senators udall to continue to stand up for us. >> jennifer: do you think that democrats are going to feel as pressured by the unions as republicans feel pressured by grover norquist? >> organized labor is the best organized, most effective strongest arm on the left in this country. they are a great ally for the democratic party and so, of course the democrats will feel pressure from labor. they are also going to feel pressure from -- >> jennifer: are they going to compromise? >> we'll find out. the democrats aren't one party in lock step. have conservative democrats liberal democrats. so the unions can't force every democrat to do something. and there's pressure also from the middle. you said pressure from the right. pressure from the left. but there's pressure from the middle. a democratic interest group that has some swaining called third way released polling that said hey, look, the democratic voters for obama want entitlement reform. they're okay with it. >> jennifer: large percentages in fact. >> democrats are in civil debate. there is a conversation to have on both sides. >>

we need senators bennett and udall to stand up for us. we need senators warner and webb to continue to stand up for us by investing in job creation, extending the middle class tax cuts and protecting medicare and medicaid and education from cuts. because for working families, it's all about putting americans back to work. not cutting the things we rely on most. >> this is just one part of the campaign to strengthen and support the middle class in this country. on a conference call last week, president obama made a direct personal appeal to 30,000 of his top campaign activists. he says it's not time to let up. the president told supporters he will barn storm across the country to keep people engaged in negotiations over the talks. the president's allies also plan on harnessing the power of the obama campaign including the dash board, a social network built by the obama team. the campaign manager says dash board helped win the election. it will now be used to promote the president's agenda. >> you could see people using dash board to say, o

udall: mr.president, i want to associate myself with the remarks of my colleague from the great state of new york and look forward to working with him and the entire senate to find ways in which, that the senate can continue to do the important work that the public asked us to do. mr. president, i rise this morning, again, to speak to the importance of extending the production tax credit, otherwise known as the p.t.c., for wind energy. i wanted to mention that the production tax credit has been used on many occasions to promote other kinds of energy development, including natural gas. the production tax credit for wind particularly is set to expire at the end of december. and as a result, thousands of hardworking middle-class families in colorado and across our country who currently work in this important energy industry are at extreme risk of losing their jobs. and in fact, many of these workers have already been laid off as companies brace themselves for the expiration of the p.t.c. and to put

tom udall.d a new congress, tom udall and tom harkin were both demanding reform or suggesting reform. proposing reform. and that's -- and it didn't happen. but this is a key time to do it. we're coming up to it right now because when you form a new congress you don't need 2/3 vote to change the rules. you only need 51 votes to change the rules and democrats will have 55 votes so now is the opportune time and the best time to really have some either get rid of the filibuster or to reform it. that's likely to happen. it's got to happen if we're going to get anything done and out of this congress and yet mitch mcconnell got to the floor, went on the floor yesterday and said oh, my god! look what the democrats are trying to do. they're trying to destroy the united states senate. >> for the sake of this institution and the future of the country i implore members on both sides to oppose this naked power grab strenuously and loudly. it may be the most important thing you ever do. >> bill: imagine. nake

>> tom udall a colleague of ours when we were a. g.s is pushing this hard along with a whole lot of other people. i just don't understand how one person anonymously, can hold up the rest of the country. so we need to stop that. that's part of stopping the gridlock. we'll be moving forward with a rational approach, still looking at filibuster in the traditional mr. smith goes to washington sense but taking the irrationality out of this process is critically important. >> eliot: good luck getting the irrationality out of washington. if somebody can do it, will you. senator-elect, heidi heitkamp, great to chat with you. >> bye-bye. >> eliot: the escalating crisis in israel. congressman jerry nadler joins us. here in our own country. >> it's an issue that ultimately effects each and every one of us. >> thats why current is stepping up. >> ... by feeding the needy. >>... feeding the needy. >>... feeding the needy. >>... feeding the needy. >>... feeding the needy. >> for an entire week we'll explore hunger, malnutrition even obesity. >> .

. >> give it up to your outstanding united states senators, michael bennet and mark udall. of the best governors in the country, john hickenlooper. we've got your former mayor and a great friend, a member of my national team, pena. and we've got one of the finest congressional delegations any place in the country right here in colorado, we're so proud of all of them. please give them a big round of applause. now, for the past several days, all of us have been focused on not just elections, but we've been focused on what's been happening on the east coast. one of the worst storms of our lifetime. and as a nation, we mourn those who were lost. and unffortunately the people o this town understand what it means to grieve better than most. because the wounds of that terrible shooting are still fresh in people's minds. but just as you've begun to heal as a community, we're going to help our friends on the east coast heal as well. we're going to walk with the people whose lives have been upended. those who have lost loved ones. we're going to walk with them every step of the way o

senator durbin, senator barrasso, senator more an, senator udall, -- senator moran, senator udall, senator coons, all of whom worked very hard to secure the ratification of this very important convention. as the chair of the committee on health, education, labor and pensions and as the lead senator as author of the americans with disabilities act, i want the united states to become a party to this convention so we can apply the expertise that we have developed under the a.d.a. and help the rest of the world remove barriers to full participation and honor the human rights of their citizens with disabilities. one of my greatest joys in the senate has been my work with so many senators on the americans with disabilities act of 1990. the a.d.a. stands for a simple proposition -- that disability is a natural part of the human experience and that all people with disabilities have a right, an inherent right to make choices to pursue meaningful careers and to participate fully in all aspects of society. so thanks to the a.d.a., our country is a more welcoming players not just for people with a var

under these new proposed rules that senators udall and murphy have been working on, and i've been somewhats if you're going filibuster you have to talk. as on a as you quick talking the chair says the filibuster is over with. >> just so our listeners understand, this can be done at the beginning of next session of congress under the rules with just 51 votes this is the moment. >> this is the moment to do it when we convene in january. >> and with leader reid wanting to do that, it looks like something might happen, and with 51 votes. >> yes, we need 51, and i can tell you that president obama has changed his mind on this, too. when he was a senator there is a quote that he made about the filibuster, and supportive of it. i can tell you that i have spoken with him on the campaign trail, and he is now seeing that this is not right. it's not right that a handful of people can stop things in the united states senate. we now have the president on our side. hopefully we'll change that rule. at least if we continue with filibusters, at least people have to stay on the floor and talk. they can't j

tom udall currently has a constitutional amendment proposal. the fact that all of that super pac moneuy did not help anyone win for the most part, -- >> some have said it extended the republican primaries because people were able to write a single check into a candidate alive. >> will this hurt udall's proposal? >> so how do we see the clash of money going for it? >> very simple. barack obama will get maybe 3 supreme court nominations. you acaan be sure that the onel litmus test that will be applied is will you vote to overturn citizens united? it is a lot quicker than trying to amend the constitution. rex will that has worked because the democrats hold a senate advantage? >> i do not know at the workshop but whoever -- if it will work or not but if you think we have been through political armageddon now, wait until the next vacancy on the supreme court. >> if you are right. >> at a constitutional amendment will never get through. we have a very high bar for that. not enough americans are excited about election reform. what did the president sa

levin: udall amendment number 2940, brown of massachusetts amendment number 3036; toomey amendment number 3064. levin amendment 3114. casey amendment number 3193. risch amendment number 3213. wicker amendment number 3220. johanns amendment number 3222. coburn amendment number 3237. levin amendment number 3243. lieberman amendment number 3256. cornyn amendment number 3260. mccain amendment number 3261. kyl amendment number 3271. webb amendment number 3275. nelson of nebraska amendment number 3279. the presiding officer: is there objection to -- mr. mccain: reserving the right to object. the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: and i will not object. the presiding officer: will the senate come to order. will the senate please come to order and you can take your conversations out in the hall. mr. mccain: we now have 17 more amendments. we will be proceeding tomorrow morning and i want to tell my colleagues, we will be looking at other amendments to put in the package. the presiding officer: will the senate come to order. will senators please take their conversations out i

the folks who are fighting for you every day in washington, senator michael bennett, senator mark udalls good to be here. thank you. now, i love you back. i do. you know, those of you who have seats, feel free to sit down. i do know what you tired. you know, for the past few days, all this have been focused on one of the worst storms of our lifetime. we are humbled and ogg by nature as expressive power. we mourned those who are lost and our hearts and thoughts and prayers go out to the families who have been affected. a pledge to help those whose lives have been turned upside down. i was just a phone call with some of the local officials in new york as well as gov. cuomo. they have a long way to go. to deal with this incredible storm. but, we have also been inspired these past few days. because when disaster strikes, we see america at its best. the petty differences that consume less in normal times, they all seem to melt away. we saw it in california with the fires this summer and the terrible tragedy in aurora. there are no democrats and republicans during a crisis. just fellow americ

and modern warfare, syria and china and republican senator john mccain and democratic senator mark udall led the delegation. this panel takes a broad look at the global perception of american power and leadership in the world as well as advances in military and defense technology. from last week, this runs just over an hour. >> ladies and gentlemen, welcome. my name is gideon and i'm the editor of foreign affairs and it is a wonderful privilege and honor and pleasure to be here again at the halifax from. foreign affairs is in the business of serious discussions by knowledgeable people with important issues, free and frank exchanges on the most important questions out there and that's actually the same business that halifax is and so we are delighted to be the media sponsor, and it is going to be fantastic weekend. let me just cut right to the chase. we have a fantastic panel, and more importantly, a great topic and a wonderful group with all of you as well and so let's get right to it. our panelists here, david singer of "the new york times," the former undersecretary deputy secretary of

and also the two udalls, who i think are well respected among democrats, and mark has been very strong on the fiscal side. emerged asom coburn some of the voice of sanity? he has enormous credibility among conservatives, and yet he is a negotiator here. he is the leader of the gang of six. this is about people beyond the gang of six or the gang of eight. coburn is key, and i suspect one of the first people that comes to the white house when obama starts this process, is coburn, which is someone who he has had a pretty close personal friendship, even if they have been at odds politically. it is one of the things obama wants to have coper right up there next to him. -- coburn up there next to him. >> in talking about from work, i cannot hear mention of things up of eliminating the motorists -- the mortgage interest deduction, and i wonder if that could be part of the final decision? he and i do not think the mortgage interest deduction will be eliminated. i think the most likely probability of a deal will be either in aggregate limitations on deductions for a revision, a further revision

udall on the other, the chamber of commerce on the other, that protected the grand canyon and also recognizedthat we would meet economic activity in the arizona strip. that is when trying to protect. >> moderator: doctor carmona, you have 30 seconds. carmona: there is a difference of opinion but what we are talking about is the aquifer. we are talking about the watershed area that extends far beyond canyon. any money you do there is potentially deleterious because it can contaminate the aquifer that ultimately brings water down. so i was very careful to say that this is the grand canyon watershed risk and that the risk to all of us because 25 million people rely on that aquifer in the watershed to provide water for this area, as well as california and other areas. >> moderator: thank you, doctor. a quick look at a lot of topics now. the next question is from transit. >> moderator: high unemployment remains a stubborn and key concern around the united states. particularly affecting the rural areas hard. imperial county has the highest rate in the nation month after month with 25% of 30% of its

and also the two udalls, who i think are well respected among democrats, and mark has been very stronge fiscal side. >> hasn't tom coburn emerged as some of the voice of sanity? he has enormous credibility among conservatives, and yet he is a negotiator here. he was the leader of the gang of 6. this is about people beyond the gang of 6 or the gang of 8. coburn is key, and i suspect one of the first people that comes to the white house when obama starts this process is coburn, which is someone who he has had a pretty close personal friendship, even if they have been at odds politically. it is one of the things obama wants to have coburn up there next to him. >> i do not hear mention of things up of eliminating the mortgage interest deduction, and i wonder if that could be part of the final decision. i do not think the mortgage interest deduction will be eliminated. i think the most likely probability of a deal will be either in aggregate limitations on deductions for a revision, a further revision of individual deductions like the mortgage interest that lowers the amount that would be a

. >> senator udall. >> thank you, mr. chairman. good morning, general.let me just start by acknowledging your service. you have served with great distinction and selflessness for many years. i know everybody on the committee wants to acknowledge your service but i also know your family has been an important part of your service, and they have sacrificed as much as you have. i want to extend my gratitude to your family as well. and here you said having carried a load much more than your fair share these last years, and you are preparing to do even more. so we look forward to seeing you in the theater as we discussed yesterday when he came by to visit me. and i just want to let you know you have my deepest thanks for your service. let me, if i might, move to an inside you might be able to provide is based on your service in iraq. of afghan and iraq cultures are different, and the nature of those two wars were different in some respects, but i know there's some lessons that you learned in iraq. and i would like to hear what you learned and how that might gu

senator udall. >> thank you. i want to start by acknowledging your service. you served with great distinctiveness and selflessness, and i know your family sacrificed as much as you have. i want to extend my gratitude to your family as well. here you sit having carried a load much more than your fair share these last years, and you're preparing now to do more. e look forward to seeing you in theater as we discussed yesterday when you visited me. i just want to let you know you have my deepest thanks for your service. if i might move to an insight, you might be able to do this based on service in iraq. afghans, iraqi cultures are different, and the nature of the two wars were different in some respects, but i know there's lessons that you learned in iraq, and i'd like to hear what you learnedded and how that might guide you as you're with isaf in the next two years. >> sthart -- senator, thank you for the great question. it's capable security forces indigenous, and i think all the lessons learned in iraq, the successes in iraq, was a result of our effort to sta

it is a one-way street where senator udall and harkin of iowa have ideas on one side.hey do not have balanced to them. they do not provide enough rights for the minority power to make it plausible. >> look at the proposal that a few monthsut out at th ago. that had been discussed in a bipartisan way in the senate rules committee to several hearings on the filibuster. chuck schumer, lamar alexander, and others talk about the idea of a trade-off, of limiting filibusters' on the motion to proceed in return for some karen t of amendment. senator levin's proposal is specific in how that can work. you could use that as a starting point and agree to some other changes. cobwebby like what happened in 1975. the agreement was that they put in rule 5 for the first time. it had never been there. we came this close but we will not do it. we will put the in the rules. you could unimagined on a bipartisan agreement. you could get a handshake or implicit agreement between reed and mcconnell that there will be a change in the way they do things now and more willingness to offer amendme

udall: madam presii want to welcome my colleagues back to what i hope will be a highly productive lame-duck congress. we have tremendous challenges facing our country but i believe we can come together and accomplish the tasks before us, hopefully in a truly bipartisan way. and as the presiding officer knows, one of the issue as that i've been really concerned about for some time now is the production tax credit for wind energy which is known by as acronym, the p.t.c. and i just want to acknowledge the presiding officer's state, minnesota, has an enormous presence in the wind energy industry. and i've come to the floor, as my colleagues know, maybe in some of the their minds too often, but i come down here every morning that we're in session, just about every morning since june, to talk about the importance of extending this job-creating tax credit. the p.t.c. has helped create literally tens of thousands of good-paying middle-class jobs all across our nation, and it's, in turn, spurred the growth of the wind energy industry. it's strengthened american manufacturing, which we all deeply car

president, reference was made to the udall amendment yesterday. i want to make sure our colleagues know that this is not the udall amendment. this is something totally different. this would mean that for the first time, we would be spending our d.o.d. dollars, our very scarce dollars -- in this case, the department of the navy -- to build refineries or to retrofit refineries. that hasn't been done before. as i said to the -- to the senator from north carolina when she was presiding, this is a function that has always been performed by the department of energy and the department of agriculture. and in my state of oklahoma, we have several of these refineries and potential refineries in retrofits that are needed. however, we're going through the proper channels, which are the department of agriculture and the department of energy. so if you vote for this amendment, it will be the first time we're using our readiness dollars to do something that the d.o.a. and the d.o.e. are supposed to be doing. that's what is -- distinguishes the difference between

udall of new mexico 3049, udall of new mexico 3150, akaka 3204, begich 3194, bennet 3226, boxer 3265, brown of ohio 311, carper 3241, casey 2997, conrad 3227, coons 3289, hagan 3056, harkin 3147, johnson of south dakota 3100, kohl 2887, lautenberg 3288, levin 3164, levin 3280, levin 3284, nelson of florida 3267, reed of rhode island 3165, reed of rhode island 3255, rockefeller 2996, warner 3145, warner 3188, webb 2943, webb 2957, whitehouse 3181, wyden 2959, alexander 3258, ayotte 3003, ayotte 3004, ayotte 3080, barrasso 3081, barrasso 3082, blunt 3728, boozman 3 it 21, brown of massachusetts 3160, brown of massachusetts 3270, burr 3219, coats 2923, collins 3042, collins 3196, collins 3259, collins 3282, corker 3172, demint 3134, graham 3203, grassley 2990, grassley 3079, hatch 3268, hutchison 3078, inhofe 2978, kyl 2927, kyl 3033, kyl 3239, lee 3185, mccain 3054, mccain 3091, mccain 3247, mccain 3262, mccain 3281, moran 3285, murkowski 3135, murkowski 3136, murkowski 3156, murkowski 3197, paul 3117, paul 3119, portman 3142, risch 3293 and 3094, rubio 3175, rubio 3176, sessions 3007,

udall: thank you, mr. president. and i rise today to talk, solely to talk about two of my amendments to the defense authorization bill. i will maybe at a later point speak on some of the other amendments i have filed but i'm not going to offer the amendments at this time. and i first rise to speak on the udall-corker amendment 3049. last year i introduced s. 1798, the open burn pits registry act with senator corker. we have met with veterans and active duty members of the military and they have told us how important it is that we act now on this issue. the senate veterans' affairs committee agrees and has passed the legislation after holding hearings. this week senator corker and i introduced amendment 3049 to the defense authorization because our veterans and active duty members suffering from exposure to burn pits should not have to wait any longer. i began this work because of service members like master sergeant jesse baca, a member of the new mexico air national guard and his wife maria. master sergeant baca was

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president i now ask unanimous consent that kevin reed, a fellow in senator mark udall's office, be granted floor privileges during the senate session for the week of november 26-30, 2012. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: i now ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow tuesday november 27. follow be the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day that the majority leader be recognize and a the first hour be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees that the republicans control the first half and the majority controlling the final half and that the senate recess from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings. the presiding officer: is without objection. mr. levin: we hope to consider the disabilities treaty during tomorrow's session. if there is a he no further business to come before the nah senate, i ask that the adjourn u

udall: i listened with interest to my colleague from alabama and i have great confidence we will have a robust debate each the national defense authorization act and we will keep our record intact that has been in place for some 50 years of putting in place a national defense authorization act. we did so last year at this time, we did so i think the previous year, and i have every confidence again i want to say that we'll have a comprehensive national defense authorization act that will direct the pentagon and all the men and women in uniform who serve us so well as to the policies of the united states. i know i'll work with my colleague from alabama to see that accomplished. mr. president, i come back to the senate floor today as i have on many occasions to urge all of us to take action on a spool that's -- policy that's bipartisan, in its support and ramification. that is the production tax credit for wind energy. we need to renew that production tax credit. it's encouraged billions of dollars in investment and helped create tens of thousands of good-paying moobs across our country