whitehouse: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: i hope my colleagues will vote enthusiastically for this amendment across the country ciewnts and local organizations are trying to revive rivers that have been damned and blocked -- dammed and blocked and when they go foaferred to put in a fish ladder, when they redesign a culvert to allow for water passage they have to file a flood plan. and fema requires them to pay a fee to have that flood plan assessed. the fee is almost always waived. but they still have to go through the waiver process which costs money and, frankly, can be as burdensome asfully simply paying the fee. this eliminates the fee, eliminates that part of the process process and allows towns and small organizations more readily to come to the aid of our old small rivers. i think this is something we should be able to agree on with great strength of the senate, it's noncontroversial and i urge my colleagues to vote aye. the presiding offi

whitehouse: absolutely. and indeed years ago one expert in this area wrote that in terms of the experience that people would have, yes, the planet is warming. but the experience that people would have wouldn't be just of warming, it would be of weird weather. and truly the better name wouldn't be global warming but it would be global weirding. and that's because very simple when you add energy, heat energy in this case, to a closed system by trapping it with more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, you speed things up. you make storms stronger, you change weather patterns, and you see things that you haven't seen before. and so the things people are seeing now -- not specifically, not that storm, that -- but the pattern that people would see more extreme weather of various kinds was, indeed, predicted. and the fact that it's happening is exactly consistent with what the scientists have been warning us. mrs. boxer: it is. because it was year ago when i took the panel. i think it was seven years ago that i took

and senator from virginia because virginia sent more men to the whitehouse. he went to the virginia law school and studied law. he didn't like the study but moved to atlanta and opened a law office. he was a terrible lawyer. he obtained no clients in the year he was down there. he loved spending the afternoon reading. he read a lot of history and he read what was becoming a new discipline and that was political science. he read a lot about economics, history and how they were melded into this new thing called political science. and after wilson realized he wasn't making a living as an attorney in atlanta he decided he was going to go to grad school. one good thing came from the atlanta years and that was the big piece of business he had acquired. and that was something his family gave him. wilson went to rome, georgia and tied up lose ends. where he met a women named ellen lou axon. they fell in love and had a 19th century courtship. wilson was desperate to marry her realized he didn't have the resources to do it. their engagement went on for several years. a

now, what we don't know in this report is who in the whitehouse changed the talking points. you want to know what chris christy did? fine. absolutely fair game. we know what he did when he found out what his people did about the traffic jam. he fired them. and got up in front of the whole world and i said i am sorry and i will fire the people that did this. name one person that has been held accountable for this bad thing called benghazi. name one person at the state department who has been fired for ignoring repeated request for additional security coming from people in rebeclibya. and when did i learn in the interview with the survivors? i found out the places attacked in benghazi, the state department consultant, the lease was renewed in july for an entire year. for hundreds of thousands of dollars. i didn't know that. well over half a million. so you will tell me that they were going to close the consultant in december? that was the conclusion of the accountability review board. that is not accurate. i think hilary clinton was going to go down and announce the permanent

i'm going to give senator whitehouse -- take my two minutes. senator vitter -- okay? senate inhoff, senator sessions and then i'll close. everybody has two more minutes, okay? so let's start with senator whitehouse. >> i'll just take a little bit of my time to respond to senator sessions' suggestions that one scientist says that climate change isn't really happening and that there really isn't an association with storms. and i just want to put that into context. there actually is a peer reviewed scientific consensus out there about this. it is massive. it is not unanimous. sometimes is rarely unanimous. there are eccentrics. there are outliers. there are people who have nonmainstream opinions. and to be blunt, there are people who are in concert with the polluting industries and delivering phony science, the way they did on tobacco. >> can we have some quiet? our colleagues are talking here. >> so when people pick out what one particular scientist said, it's important to look at that in a context of where the bulk of the science is. and if you don't believe science, t

here is his book, "days of fire: bush and cheney in the whitehouse." (#20)250-5392 is the number.or those of you in the mountains and pacific and further on time zones you can also send your comment to twitter. booktv is our twitter handle. you can make a comment on her facebook page anytime. peter baker, the story that you tell in your book, can you walk us through that? >> guest: yes, from the early days of the white house he had prepared for the possibility of a supreme court nomination and dick cheney have gone through an extensive process. but he understood what he wanted with a supreme court justice, one that was restrained with judicial activism and he interviewed a lot of candidates. but in the fall of 2005 when it came time for john roberts to elevate as the chief justice, he had his own white house counsel with. myers. something going back several years. he had great trust in him. and he thought everyone knows what a preacher in her the way that he did and i was a miscalculation. cheney felt that that was not a good idea. and he did it anyway. and it turns out to be one

we're going to turn to senator whitehouse. >> thank you very much, chairwoman. let me first say to my cleeks on the other side as we solve the problem of carbon, i'm prepared to accept that there are going to be impacts on families and it's important in the resolution that we address the concern. because that's la legitimate concern. what i can't accept is the coal and iron jobs are the only ones affected. not when the ski season in the northeast and all around to utah is shortened. not when foresters in oregon and across the west are losing their jobs to the pine bill and to the loss of having a vibrant national forest. not when we have the impacts throughout the economy. that's just economic impacts. we also have health impacts in rhode island as these increase. we are losing our state at the the coastal verge. the houses are falling into the ocean. i am not going to ignore those factors out of a desire to protect coal and oil jobs. i will work with you to a solution that solves our mutual concerns and helps those industries, but i'm not going to ignore this p

we have had 6 0 provisions tat are tracked and we are working with the whitehouse on metrics. >> we have prepared the first set of six metrics that have been through the joint chiefs received the approval of boefth both of them and the office of secretary defense will be providing the whitehouse with them. and we will be developing a second set of metrics that get at prevalence and culture change. >> thanks, kathy. i wanted to conclude may making a couple points. one, my mission is clear: reduce with the plan to eliminate sexual assault. it is daunting task. i have lost a lot of sleep in my first week, but i am committed to the mission. as you can see from the folks at this table, i am supported by a dedicated team and a group of professionals that want to do the same thing. there is going to be days when we present bad news to you. there is going to be others when we can demonstrate progress on the problem. either way, i am committed to giving you the results in a tra tra transparent manner. we will continue to provide support for victims and holding the military accountable for progres

whitehouse, proposes amendment numbered 2706. mr. whitehouse: thank you vef. i want to just say a few words about this amendment, which i hope we can pass. i think it is an amendment that will find strong bipartisan support. i am from new england, and across new england -- but i suspect in wisconsin and across the country as well -- communities are trying to restore old rivers back to their healthy state. and what we see in new england, particularly in rhode island, with our history of the industrial revolution, is that our early industrial history was powered by hydropower. it was powered by damming rivers and then diverting some of the flow through a wheel that then drove the engines of industry, the mills, for instance, that were so important to rhode island's industrial history. and that's not just true in rhode island. it's true across new england. i suspect it's true in a the love places across the country. so -- in a lot of places across the country. as local communities are restoring these rivers, they tend to be small rivers and small dams, what we wa

whitehouse: thank you y much. madam president, i'm back again today now for the 54th time to urge my colleagues to wake up to what carbon pollution is doing to earth's climate and oceans. facts that we see all around us but can't seem to penetrate the politics of congress. we in this body are willfully ignoring changes that we've never seen before, changes that threaten our planet and its rich array of plant and animal life, our homes, farps farms, and facs and our very health and well-being. carbon-driven climate change can be seen in warming surface temperatures and in shifting seasons, but perhaps nowhere is carbon pollution doing more harm than in our oceans. the year 2013 brought ample new evidence of these changes in our oceans. here is what we know: people often talk about climate change as if it were a theory. here's what we know: we know that the oceans are warming. that's not a theory. that's a measurement. it's done with thermometers. it's not complicated. sea level, we know, is rising. that's another m

>> we want conservatives in the whitehouse. this war is silly. conservatives need to take the party back over. that is all i have to say. >> i think what she is doing is she is helping advance the thesis of the book. there is this huge battle going on between conservatives and republicans. but i think when we talk about republicans, i think people typically think of the establishment candidates; people who are running washington. if you look at the budget battle particularly that is taking place, conservatives as she is pointing out, were unhappy with the budget deal. and i think we will see this play out even more in about 6-7 weeks when we have the debt ceiling standoff that is going to take place in congress. and i think many republicans, particularly in the house and senate, are going to be looking over their shoulder in terms of how they should vote because the conservatives as she is putting it is looking for them to, i think, not advance this debt ceiling advance.fight within th. oft: here is the front page "the wall street journal" this m

they put together 46 and some of them the whitehouse will accept and some are more contentious. we have the reform service, rain it in, and bulk collection. and then you have the intelligence committees looking to protect the nsa and keep the surveillance programs as they are. that should pay out and we will see where the president stands. >> the issue of privacy. if you could all address that and potential legislative or regulatory reform? >> privacy definitely is moving on many fronts. there is the surveillance issue and the issue of access to consumer data by the government but the fcc is jumping in and considering having fcc used for commercial data. and we have looking at multi stake hold efforts not moving as much as they should. you heard them saying commercial privacy is more of a concern. >> the fcc isn't as focused on privacy, but public interest groups are petitiopetitions the expand the privacy measures with things like customer propriety network information so the rules apply to the collection of data. so the fcc is going to be asked to help where it can but privacy

governor chris christie ran into a traffic jam today on the road to the whitehouse. evidence revealed today shows that a top aide to christie and appointees of the new jersey governor created a four-day tie-up for thousands of drivers on roads leading to the busiest bridge in the world. the motive, political revenge. christie, who's believed to be considering a run for the presidential nomination, says he is outraged by today's developments and insists he was misled by his staff. elaine quijano is in fort lee for us tonight. elaine? is outraged by today's developments and insists he was misled by his staff. elaine quijano is in fort lee for us tonight. elaine? >> reporter: scott, it was a local traffic jam on the approach to the busy george washington bridge behind me linking new york and new jersey. in september unannounced lane closures backed up traffic into the new jersey town of fort lee. the closures sparked accusations of political retribution against mark sokolich, fort lee's democratic mayor, who did not endorse governor chris christie during his successful

order be the following -- reed of rhode island, 2703; coburn, 2697; merkley, 2709; heller, 2700; whitehouse, 2706; toomey, 2707, which is a substitute; and gillibrand, 2708. that no second-degree amendments be in order to 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 i

whitehouse: thank you very much, mr. president. i'm back now for the 55th time that the senate has been in session, each week to urge my colleagues to wake up to the toll that carbon pollution is taking on our atmosphere, our oceans and our people. while climate change deniers continue to gin up phony doubt to mislead the public, top american businesses and corporations recognize the risks posed by climate change. they are preparing for the economic fallout. members of congress bury their heads in the sand like the proverbial ostrich hoping the issue will go away, wondering in some cases recently whether the recent cold front disproves decades of research and an overwhelming scientific consensus. well, business leaders in the real world, not the political world, not the polluter paid phony doubt world, business leaders in the real world are doing what they do best and that is taking stones protect their bottom line and maintain their relationships with their customers. major corporations, even those with large carbon footprints are

at the whitehouse, mike, appreciate it. the changes president announced today were largely driven by a series of leaks from edward snowden. david shuster is here with more. david? >> there has been no direct reaction yet from edward snowden to the speech but his supporters are claiming the changes announced today by president obama would have never happened without snowden. >> he is one of the most famous government whistle blowers in desk aids and yet edward snowden, a computer specialist, former nsa contractor began his leaks just seven months ago the national security agency has been collecting phone records of millions of american verizon customers. the next day, the washington post revealed leaks of an internet surveillance program. nine companies had been giving direct access to all user data. president obama said the math was simple. >> you can't have 100% security and also then have 100% privacy he identified himself as the former nsa contractor fueling the now public debate. >> i sit in my desk certainly had the au

the president will host unemployed workers at the whitehouse on tuesday. >>> a leading democrat involvedith economic issues behind the scenes is maryland senator been are cardon. he sat down with adam may to look ahead to the big issues on capitol hill in 2014 beginning with the battle over unemployment insurance. >> there are more than a million people waiting right now for some action here in washington. how long are they going to have to wait? >> i hope we get to it right away. it's an importantly program for individuals who are really in a tough spot today. these are long-term unemployed who can not find employment, who desperately need some help in order to keep their families afloat. >> republicans, specifically house speaker boehner have said that the cost of extending this should be offset. you have been very firm in disagreeing with that. why? >> well, historically, we have not offset the cost because, first, we've collected the money during the good economic times. secondly, it's not only to help the families. it's to help our economy by putting more money into the economy. it

rate has decreased and we should be encouraged, but it is nowhere near the 5 percent level the whitehouse promised in the $800 billion stimulus was rushed through congress. the unemployment rate is due to falling labor force precipitation. if the rate had not declined since the president took office it would be nearly 11 percent. a smaller percentage of americans are employed today than when the recession ended. the american people are deeply dissatisfied with the president's solution for the economy. we need solutions so mainstream businesses can hire again. increasing the minimum wage and washington mandating income, extending unemployment benefits will not increase the outlook. emergency unemployment program is to be used when the unemployment rate is going high. it is the lowest since 2008. so you ask why are the president and senate turning their back on job creation? why doesn't the senate pick up and pass any of the dozens of jobs bills the house has already approved? including the keystone xl pipeline which would create thousands of middle class jobs. they continue to deny biparti

tax force called the white house counsel on women and girls, anow,sing the new task force at the whitehouseednesday, the president describes sexual assault as a prior to person pr to -- priority for him. >> i will fight for you and your families and for others to step up across my administration and in congress and state capitols and college campuses on our military basis and across our country. this is a priority for me not only as president and commander and chief and as a husband and a father of two extraordinary girls. >> the president's report laid out some disturbing statisticsibs, one in five female students are sexually assaulted on u.s. college campuses, shockingly, only 12 percent of those victims report the incidence. the president says the response by authorities is often inadequate. he linked the inadequate response to police bias and the lack of training in dealing with section annualing assault. the report reveals that some 22 million women in this country are raped in their lifetimes. but even as the president announces bold new steps to address sexual crimes, some are takin

a few months ago the whitehouse floated the idea of civilian control through the phone companies of thesees came to the white house and said that would be unworkable given that the companies hold data in different formats and for different lengthses olengths of time. finally future limitations the president will announce, according to official goes, that he's going to defer much of this to congress. the law that governs the current nsa collection program is up for renewal next year and the votes aren't there for renewal particularly in the house. so by deferring to congress the president can avoid appearing to fight for something that he would lose. critics are already accusing the president of a plan to seed executive power. but by kick this is to congress the white house can put pressure lawmakers to take some ownership of whatever new nsa restricts they want to support. >> all right. yeah. all right, david, appreciate it. thank you. >>> catholics around the world watched the testimony of vatican officials at the u.n., but many clergy sex abuse victims didn't hear what they were hoping

really good democrats a group of democratic senators including barbara boxer of california sheldon whitehouse of rhode island and former they're calling the climate action task force member group plans on making a strong push for a new climate change legislation hosting for speeches and holding public events to raise awareness about the dangers of global warming it will also work with non-governmental organizations including many religious groups and businesses to get the word out about their efforts to stop global warming the last time senate democrats made a big push for climate change legislation was with the cap and trade bill and republicans blocked it in the house still in republican hands there's no guarantee that any legislation that passes the senate will turn into law regardless of what the republicans do though climate action task force is without a doubt a step in the right direction we should all wished. members of the bad brit hume in a panel discussion about the ongoing bridge gate scandal on sunday's episode of spin cycle the fox news host said that the whole narrative about g

or has the whitehouse done a good job with the senators? democratic senators are reflecting the middle east. it isn't just israel scratching their heads. it is all of the other allies in the region. time will tell. i am not optimistic. but time will tell. the bad result is iran is the dominant alpha dog of the middle east. >> something to watch every day. >> you bet. >>> key swing state is quickly becoming a hot bet for national issues. legalize marijuana, gun control, marriage equality, and taxes -- how all of these play out in colorado is being watched across the country. >> the other few reasons colorado is getting attention is that other states tend to follow the social issue trends that come out of here. there has been a backlash against what some considered extreme moves to the left. >> we seem to have a place on the national radar screen about these issues. >> colorado is called the ultimate swing state with an electorate divided evenly. >> there is a strong independent-nes in the voters. >> reporter: they swung left in the recent ye

senator sheldon whitehouse of rhode island. lisa murkowski from alaska. ron wyden from oregon. susan collins from maine. and senator debbie stabenow from michigan. obviously, senator menendez was our leader on the democratic side, and we would not be where we are today without his leadership and without the commitment of senator harry reid, who from nevada but recognizes that he has a flooding problem as well, that this is not just a coastal issue that stood up early to tell us if we can build a strong coalition, if we can build 60-plus, he would help us to get to a point where we could actually have a debate on amendments, vote them up and down, and then move this bill with the strongest vote possible to the house of representatives, where i'm proud to say there are 131 cosponsors on this bill. and that number is growing every day because as people hear about what's happening, understand, get notices from their insurance companies, which by the way are taking 30% of every policy off the top and assuming virtually no risk, which is an issue we have to address. it's not addresse

i'd like to thank the other members, ranking member cruz, senator klobuchar, and senators whitehouse and graham for coming out today. senator graham has sat through and chaired a similar hearing. he's a die-hard fan of ours. we appreciate that. or at least very interested in the subject which we appreciate. thank you for holding this hearing and blig attention to the tragedy unfoileding in the middle east. i'm here today with colleagues from u.s. agency for international development and department of homeland security. i'm going to limit my remarks to the state department's role in assisting refugees overseas. we are also going to talk about aid inside syria. and molly groom from d.h.s. will talk about resettlement. i'm happy to take questions on any of these subjects because we are working very closely together on all these things. in the interest of time i'll keep my remarks more restricted. you know that more than 2.3 million have crossed syria's borders and are considered refugees. they fled to all the neighboring countries. most of whom are struggling to help them. we are incred

the menendez motion to waive budget points of order against s. 1926, the reed amendment 2703, the whitehouse amendment 2706, and the gillibrand amendment 2708. i would expect that those amendments would go by voice. and, finally, there will be two minutes of debate inbetween the votes equally divided in the usual form. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. menendez: mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. ms. heitkamp: thank you so much for this opportunity to stand and support a bill that has taken a long time to get to the floor of the united states senate. and i remember back when members like senator mary landrieu stood and sounded the alarm, sounded the alarm even before we saw the problem coming. and as a result of that initial effort and as a result of the great effort of the gentleman who just left the floor, senator menendez, we now have a bill on the floor that we can truly say, we're actually listening to the middle class. how many times do you think in this body we talk about the

in the whitehouse you have 12 people on the national security staff working cybersecurity questions. and one on the economic side who has responsibility for copy rights as well. we very much need an approach that is informed and balanced. >> next question over here. >> thank you. richard downy and thank you for the interesting discussion. you mentioned corporations and how they are protected or how well they are or are not protected. and you would just assume large corporations or banks with lots of resources would do what is required to protect themselves against these threats. ... is a cybersecurity maturation model that measures how prepared organizations and even countries are against these kinds of threats. zero isfe axis, defenseless and the curve goes -- an-- and ask why axis axis, euros defenseless and the curve goes of to resilient. -- goes up to resilient. >> there are a number of approaches like that. i think it helps us understand the issue a little bit. probably the leaders in developing the senses and working together how the risks are connected in the financial sector,

reid of nevada, reed of rhode island, klobuchar, warren, durbin, whitehouse, markey, baldwin, leahy, coons, mikulski, murray, warner, hirono, murphy, harkin and brown. mr. reid: note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. portman: madam president, i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: is there objection? a senator: i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: is there objection. without objection. mr. reid: madam president, i have the floor here. the presiding officer: the majority leader. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. portman: i thank you, madam president, for recognizing me. i've been trying to be recognized before the majority leader decided to what we call around here fill the tree, which means taking away the opportunity for amendments to be offered, although there will be an attempt i beli

senator whitehouse. >> thank you very much, madam chair. just briefly, welcome our witnesses to this chamber. one in which reality is so often suspended. one in which science is so often twisted and mocked. and one in which the power of special interests to manipulate american democracy is often so nakedly revealed. my belief is that the propaganda machine behind the climate denial effort will go down in history as one of our great american scandals. like tea pot dome. or watergate for that matter. most americans see through it. major american organizations. everything from coke and pepsi to ford and gm to walmart and nike and apple. can go on and on through the corporate community. outside the corporate community, you can go from the joint chiefs of staff to the u.s. conference of catholic bishops to the garden clubs of america. over and over again, organization after organization, accept the science, accept the re reality. frankly, farmers and fishermen are starting to see it happen. ask the ski mountains of utah. so i simply urge you all

senator whitehouse. >> thank you. welcome back to congress, attorney general. thank you for the terrorism work that you are doing as our attorney general. as a former u.s. attorney and friend of the department, i not only have my own opinion but i have other folks who are observers of the department and i think we're very appreciative of the fine leadership you're providing the department of justice. let me talk with you for a oment about cyber. our effort to address the cyberthreat in the -- on the military side have been quite distinct and have led to the establishment of a cybercommand with two four-star generals -- with two four star generals in charge, one double headed to lead n.s.a. on the law enforcement side, our advancement has been, to put it mildly, incremental. the responsibility for cyberthreats within the department of justice themselves is divided between the dwegs and the national security division and the enforcement responsibility is divided between the f.b.i. and secret service though the f.b.i. has a dominant role and by the way, does a ter

the whitehouse issued enrollment numbers and over 2 million on the exchanges and 4 million in medicare and that is 6 million people who had no insurance before. minority staff released a memo showing affordable care act is ahead of where the medicare part d enrollment was at the time that program went into affect in 2006. right now, the affordable care act enrollment is at 31% of projected enrollment with half of the opening enrollment period to go. and it hit only 23% of the projections on part d. and i ask you to put that memo in the record. i didn't vote for medicare part d. but we worked together to make it a success. and i think that is what we should do here. one of the things i continue to be concerned about with implementation is enrollment of the young people. i know a lot of people say they will enroll at the end. but i would be interested to know from the administration to know what we are doing to hit those targets. they will not work if we don't have that going. let work to get people enrolled and let's not sit around griping about what happened. >> we will recognize mr. u