whitehouse: thank you very much. we're going to be coming to the floor today because the four of us serve as the cochairs of the senate oceans caucus. i know that the presiding officer from delaware has a keen interest in oceans issues as well, and we appreciate his support for the caucus. we have worked very hard in this caucus to find bipartisan common ground on issues that relate to the seas and to our oceans and one of the areas that we have worked on is the area that is described in the jargon as i.u.u. initialing which -- fishing which means illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing. the better word for it, the clearer word for it, the more accurate word for it is pirate fishing. these are fishermen around the world who go to sea and they fish above legal limits, they fish out of season, they fish for catches they're not allowed to catch, they fish in waters that they're not allowed to fish in, and then they come to shore and market their illicit product. when they do that, they hurt legitimate fishermen and

the syrian army hacked the whitehouse tweet and sent out a feed saying the whitehouse was hit and the stock market picked up on that and it dropped 1%. what if they did that within that. >> brand new out is "game plan" and this is booktv on c-span 2. >> to see we are in the sixth x extinction is serious and some might say we are on the verge and maybe it can be prevented and others would say we are deep into it is we are changing the world radically and fast. not unlike an asteroid. and in fact you will hear and i have heard a scientist say this time we, human beings, are the asteroid. how are we changing the world on an asteroid-like scale? actually there is a lot of ways. but i will focus on three tonight. how we are changing the atmosphere, how we are changing the oceans and how we are changing what darwin calls the principles of geographical distribution. let's talk about the atmosphere. dot ... + and. >>

republican tim scott and democrat sheldon whitehouse. then republican leaders pursue criminal charges against lois learner for her role in the irs targeting scandal. >> there's reason to believe that lois learner committed crime. >> what they're doing with this herring is politicizing this issue. >> we'll talk with two members of the house ways and means committee which voted to send lernor's case to the justice department. plus our sunday panel discusses whether the irs scandal stops with lerner and our power player of the week, a historic washington treasure that serves as a haven for achievers in the arts and sciences. >> they're meant for everyone to enjoy. >> all right now on fox news sunday. >> and hello again from fox news in washington. kathleen sebelius stepped down as secretary of health and human services. but with confirmation hearings ahead for her replacement, the battle over obamacare is entering a new phase. we've invited members of one of the senate committees that will hold the hearings to discuss what happens now. from

whitehouse probably couldn't hold them all. if jim demint called a meeting of the conservative free market environmental groups there would be a handful there. on the left, they have the third force organizations, own funds, own membership and agenda and they pull everybody in that direction and you open up leadership positions for chairman, funding, president, speak opportunities, membership chairmans. the opportunities to bring in new leadership for our cause is m magnified. very few people are focused on politics and everything. there are many issues people are concerned and get them focused on those. remember, hilary clinton was a go-water girl in 1964. by the late '60s, she is a hard core leftist. she got involved in a single issue group, anti-vietnam war. and if people are not interested in joining your conservative organization, think about the top issues in your community you can get people involved and there are many opportunities to get people involved in something dealing with public policy other than just next elect

republican tim scott and democrat sheldon whitehouse.n republican leaders pursued criminal charges against lois lerner for her role in the irs targeting scandal. >> there is reason to believe that lois lerner committed crimes. >> what they're doing at this hearing is essentially politicizing this issue. >> we'll talk about two members of the house weighs and means committee, which voted this week to send lerner's case to the justice department. the committee's top democrat sander levin and republican charles boustany, and our sunday panel discusses whether the irs scandal stops with lerner and our power player of the week. a historic washington treasure that serves as a haven for achievers in the arts and sciences. >> i have amazement for everyone for enjoy. we affectionately -- >> >> the battle for obama care is entering a new phase. we've invited -- discussed what happens now. tim scott and from rhode island democrat sheldon whitehouse. senator scott, after the disastrous roll-out of obama care did kathleen sebelius have to go, and how

that's what the whitehouse is saying. >> that's foolish. yes, the economy is hurting somewhat. put instance popularity has sky rocketed. >> rose: the way he did in the crimea. >> sure. to say listen don't worry let this guy dismember nations because over time, he's going to fail. when kind of logic is that. >> rose: let me turn to another area. this is where it's related to this because it's a sense of how you see the president. syria. more and more people say what you tried to argue. more and more people tell me that they really missed an opportunity several years ago which you believe and you argued for. where is syria today in your judgment, giving you credit for basically saying we would not be here if we had done more to arm the rebels at a time when we could. it isn't there anymore. >> this is a perfect example of the presidency he doesn't want to give them the weapons they needed. they were winning until 5,000 hezbollah -- all of that was as plain as the nose on your face was going to happen and we watched this thing turn into a regional conflict. extremist groups in syr

sheldon whitehouse of rhode island has been our conscience. he and senator barbara boxer have been ringing the bell on this issue for months, for years in trying to get people to pay attention to what is happening. i want senator whitehouse to share what he has done over his easter vacation in trying to bring attention to this. at the end of the day, we've got to do something about it, and that means we're going to have to be very sensitive about all of the stuff that not only we, the united states of america, are putting in to the air, creating that shield, that greenhouse effect, but we're going to have to get other countries that are even polluting more than we are to do the same. senator whitehouse, i just want to thank you for what you've done as you share your story with us. you have done a courageous act of patriotism in bringing attention to this dramatic issue. thank you very much. mr. whitehouse: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: i understand that the time is controlled now by the re

folks could talk to about senator whitehouse idea at the hearing that d.o.j. could piece together false statement cases -- saying they weren't planning on doing political activity and then turning around and making large visible political expenditures. i have to ask you this, what else do you think you're going to be able to uncover? it's my understanding you get these document dumps once a month, right? >> yeah, they're going to -- we expect to get more documents at the end of the month. and the irs is going to tell us what other documents are out there. what else did the o.j. do to pursue this issue? a few days later lois lerner admitted in a planted question -- through a planted question at an aba conference, that there was the improper targeting of these conservative organizations. obviously the department of justice thought differently about prosecuting them after the blow-up. but it would be interesting to get documents now from the department of justice about their involvement with this irs scandal. >> tom, i have to go. keep us posted on any developmen

folks could talk to about senator whitehouse idea at the hearing that d.o.j. could piece together false statement cases about applicants who lied on their 1024s saying they weren't planning on doing political activity and then turning around and making large visible political expenditures. doj is feeling like it needs to respond." and there is another interesting e-mail in there, gretchen, obtained by judicial watch, initially, where lois lerner writes to someone else at the irs that she cannot prove that anyone on the political spectrum anywhere other than conservatives was ever targeted. >> so after we've been looking at these e-mails now, where does this investigation stand? >> gretchen, speaker boehner says that if lerner does not start cooperating then the full house will vote to hold her in contempt. so far that's only been done in committee. after that if the full house votes to hold her in contempt this could move to the courts and republicans think they have got a really good case right now. >> she violated -- potentially violated federal law by revea

a congressional hearing, which is okay from judiciary subcommittee on crime, chairman, sheldon whitehousen. >> we often see here. we have individuals, or corporations, anonymous entity, making a donation to a, what appears to be a completely shell corporation designed just for the purpose of laundering money into a super pac and violating the law that would require disclosure of true identity. which would seem to be a pretty clear -- 441-f violation. making a contribution in the name of another. i am wondering why the justice department doesn't appear to bring any of the cases. making a false statement is something the department prosecutes all the time. it doesn't take particular tax expertise to recognize a false statement when you see one or to prosecute one when you see one. >> now the hearing and the learner doj conversation took place in 2013. after the 2012 presidential election. not a single application for this status. this tax-exempt status was denied. >> joining me now is "the washington post" political columnist. before we get into too many of the details. let me start with th

i wasn't surprised by lincoln in the whitehouse but the dream was melancholy. the book i just published through viking is the story of two prairie boys who met in 1851 and forged a friendship. springfield, illinois in 1860 is where they were found. it offered a front row seat to one of the most biggest upheavals in history. as private secretary they became closer to anyone in the lincoln family. they performed the roles and functions of a modern chief of staff, pres secretary, political direct and presidential body man. today you would have to spend 20 years moving up the ladder and they did all of them in one. above all, they did what one report called guarding the last door that opens to the commander and chief. that was noah brooks, one of the many washington insiders who covted their jobs and resented their influence and thought they were too big for their breeches. a fault that seems to be blamed on nature or pillars. it is little wonder historians consult their writings frequently because they were sparkling letter writers and provide an eye-witness accou

whitehouse: thank you very much. i'm now here for the 64th time to ask my colleagues to wake up to the threat of climate change. it was actually, madam president, almost exactly two years ago, april of 2012, that i began speaking here every week on the floor that the senate is in session. i have tried to make a compelling case for my colleagues. first and foremost i have relied on the overwhelming scientific evidence and the near unanimity of the scientific community. 97% of climate scientists agree that the increase of carbon dioxide in our sphere due to human activities is driving unprecedented changes. and, of course, they are changes that americans see all about them in their lives now. now, if 97 doctors told you that you needed surgery, who among us in our right minds would heed the advice of the three doctors who said they were unsure that we can delay the treatment? i've talked about global warming, about the weirding of the weather, heat waves, extreme downpours, droughts, shifting seasons. i've talked at le

and social and national conservatives are ruining the chances of the republican party taking the whitehouse possibly eve ever again. at the most basic level, these conservatives groups pose a challenge to the republican party because these groups are focused on ideaology rather than party politics. but you know, as i do, at times these so-called groups include everybody in the big tent except the republican party loyalist themselves. many grassroots actives fear that america is facing an empireral president and tyranny is more possible than at any other time in history. this position is probably one of the hardest for progressives to understand. and the hardest for the republican party to deal with. another tough issues is social conservatives. the media and some other actives attack social actives and attack them hard when they express views inconsistent with their liberal world view. whatever the elites might think of social conservatives, they represent the core of the republican party. the republican party cannot win elections without them. evangelica evangelicalswere 27% of the elector

whitehouse: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: madam president, i'm here now for the 63rd 3rd consecutive week we've been in session to ask my colleagues to finally wake up to the threat of climate change. the evidence mounts of unprecedented and changeous changes from the latest -- and dangerous changes. from the latest inte intergovernmental report to the report from the academy for the advancement of science. congress continues to sleepwalk, lulled by special interest influence and polluter propaganda. the influence and propagandaer spread through an apratt us of -- apparatus of denial. this apparatus is big and

i wasn't surprised by lincoln in the whitehouse but the dream was melancholy. the book i just published through viking is the story of two prairie boys who met in 1851 and forged a friendship. springfield, illinois in 1860 is where they were found. it offered a front row seat to one of the most biggest upheavals in history. as private secretary they became closer to anyone in the lincoln family. they performed the roles and functions of a modern chief of staff, pres secretary, political direct and presidential body man. today you would have to spend 20 years moving up the ladder and they did all of them in one. above all, they did what one report called guarding the last door that opens to the commander and chief. that was noah brooks, one of the many washington insiders who covted their jobs and resented their influence and thought they were too big for their breeches. a fault that seems to be blamed on nature or pillars. it is little wonder historians consult their writings frequently because they were sparkling letter writers and provide an eye-witness accou

doing and the knowledge that the executive branch might have and specifically whatever the current whitehouse administration is. that is my first question for john. and i want to follow up with heidi and talk about something you briefly touched within on with the port washington case and that is fusion centers and the way that local governments work with the federal government in these domestic surveillance cases. >> i would argue the executive branch that includes the president and the intelligence agencies is aware of what is going on. the pattern that the president responds, on the other hand, demonstrates there are concern cleavages. in the "family jewels" i go back through each intelligence scandal in the past half century and show there is a pattern in each one. first presidents defend the intelligence communities, right? what abuses and things they were up to. then when it becomes public knowledge that the president had more two to do with intelligence abuses than the president had been maintaining at that point president's cut off the intelligence community and let them sort of flap i

folks could talk to about senator whitehouse's idea that d.o.j. could piece together false statement cases about applicants who, quote, lied, end quote, on their 1024s. doj is feeling like it needs to respond but wants to talk to the right folks at irs to see whether there are impediments from our side. i told him it sounded like we might need several folks from irs. but a message sent minutes later shows lerner admitting no such evidence existed. lerner wrote whether there was a false statement or fraud regarding a description of an alleged political expenditure that doesn't say vote for or against is not realistic under current law. everyone is looking for a magic bullet or scapegoat. there isn't one. she admitted to an aide that zero liberal groups had been targeted despite claims to the contrary, only conservative groups. as we've reported here extensively, lerner has been referred to the same department of justice for criminal prosecution by the house ways and means committee. she faces a contempt of congress vote before the full house of rep

and sunday at two, strengthening communities and a panel on publishing. >> the whitehouse announced two executive orders on equal pay. >> good afternoon, and welcome. i am the executive vice president for policy at american progress. we are excited you decided to join us on the discussion against combating pay discrimination. tomorrow is equal pay day and we need to take the time to recognize we have not done everything we need to do in terms of ensuring more "ecstatic nation: confidence, crisis, and compromise, 1848-187 equitand. equal pay isn't just a woman's issue. it is a family issue. families increasingly rely on women's wages to make ends meet. between 1967 and 2010, the percentage of mothers who brought home a quarter of the earning rose from less than a third at 28% to nearly 2/3rds. today we have betsey stevenson who serves as a council of economic advisers and is the leading market on policy. she has focused work on how different public policies affect the labor market and women's and families. we are partnering with the summit on working family issues. we are happy to have h

. >> the whitehouse press corps skepticism came to a head. >> why did it take a court case for you to release this -- >> john, i can say it again and again and i know you can keep asking again and again, this do you mean was not about benghazi. >> it was your prep for the sunday show. >> it was not her only prep, john. she relied fon her answers on benghazi on the documents prepared by the cia as did members of congress. >> two congressional sources tell fox news that house speaker john boehner wants to see concrete evidence that the benghazi incident leads directly to the white house. given the rhodes email, he said the time to act is now, bret. >> let's get reaction to all of this from one of the administration's leading critics, south carolina republican senator lindsay graham. let's start with your reaction to this day and that news conference. >> well i think it's an insult to the intelligence of the american people and quite frankly a disservice and disrespect to those who sacrifice their life in service to their country to suggest the goals in the email had nothing to do with f

at the whitehouse, the obam administration has forced a record number of migrants to leave the united states. while the white house says it has targeted documented criminals, we found some deportees had every right to stay here. in an exclusive report, alan remainey met one man who for the for three years to keep his citizenship and another is fighting to keep from being wrongly deported >> this is perg an atory. he gets across the border and lands in jail. here. >> in prison in arizona, he has been here so many times, the guards joke he is a frequent flier. every time he crosses the u.s. border, he risks injuries or worse. border agents once picked him up nearly dead from dehydration. another time, smugglers beat him up and broke his fingers. once, he was kidnapped >> they put littin a room where there was a bunch of blood on the walls and they tie us up from the back, put tape on us, and they put us on our knees >> he only escaped with a stranger's help >> get the bus and get out of here, she told me because if they get you, they are going to kill you >> every time you come back, yo

jed bush and a possible run for the whitehouse, and new information on the fort hood shooting. we know what ivan lopez was doing before he opened fire. >> you know, it may be only, what, april of 2014, but in the race for president the battle for campaign and fundraising help has begun, and the republican party has been consumed by remarks florida governor jed bush, david shuster joins us with that story. >> in the past jed bush resisted suggestions that he run for president. not any more. he said he'll give the next presidential campaign his full consideration. >> former 2-term florida governor jed bush has been a maybe for the presidential nod, but could be a front runner. in an interview. bush said he will make the decision later this year, based on two factors. >> without - tied to the convention of the politics of the hear, and the other is is it okay to my family. did something that is not a huge sacrifice for the family. >> bush's family knows the wear and tear of presidential campaigns. his father is george h w bush, and was president in 1988. his older brother, two-ter

astor had this idea, approached jefferson and he endorsed it at the whitehouse. it was astor's idea to capture all of the furs through and funnel them through the mouth of the columbia river and sell them to china. in china these furs, especially sea otter, fetched high prices because the chinese mandarin used the sea otter furs which were luxury and the finest and densest coast of any animal in the year. astor wasn't the first ship on the west coast but he was one of the earlier ones. he came up with this idea of sending trade goods from new york around cape horn by ship to the mouth of the columbia trading them to the coastal indians here for furs. trading things like knifes, beads and pots. and then taking those furs to china, trading them to the chinese for incredible markups in both places. taking chinese luxury goods like silks, keys, porcelain back around the world to london and new york. his idea was to have especially a fleet of ships circling the globe continuous and trading along the way at an incredible markup. and thomas jefferson was hoping that the

tim scott and sheldon whitehouse, and we'll talk about the -- there they are -- the aforementioned, and also talk about the irs and all the trouble that lois lerneres the and the criminal referral, and talk to two members of that committee. sounds like a show. >> sounds like one to watch live, dvr, and watch it on a loop all day. >> i don't think one watching is enough, but there is the masters, so might want to make time for that. >> we know. tiger is not playing. but the rebels are playing baseball. we're in mississippi state so -- >> who? >> my rebels. my top -- >> are you telling me you would watch the rebels playing baseball in april rather than watch a tradition unlike any other? >> 100%. positive on that. yes. >> have you're lucky the rebels don't play at 10:00 a.m. i would miss fox news sunday. what? >> have you ever been to the augusta national golf course. >> huh-uh. i hear it's great. >> the most beautiful place i've ever been in my life. i've been watching it on tv for 50 years and it exceeds your expectations. if you went down there you would be a superstar. they'd love you

whitehouse officials also said it does not appear the president will are pardon patty hurst or oliver north and john poindexter before leaving office. >> sorry, patty and iran-contra guys. ronald reagan will be of no help of you. after eight years in office, reagan's parting shot was to give this guy a hand. give this guy a pardon. around the time george steinbrenner was arranging to buy the yankees from cbs which owned the team in the '70s around the same time he was buying the yankees, george steinbrenner was making illegal campaign contributions to the presidential reelection campaign of nixon. he got caught for it. >> george steinbrenner who was chairman of the american shipbuilding company and majority stockholder of the new york yankees was accused by the s.e.c. today of not reporting illegal campaign contributions. that brings to 11 the number of corporations formally accused of illegal political gifts in 1972. >> steinbrenner, the yankees owner was charged with 14 felony counts in connection with the part of the water gate scandal involving richard nixon's re-election campaign

puts up his right hand this was a spur of the moment >> gary:even when you vsi visit the whitehouse eveas to make a buck! maybe ortiz will go give it to charity >> gary:tara! good evening after the first half last night >>hi gary! >> roadwe had a great game... bench provided a lot of energy and the fans were awesome! just electric! >>she is right up there with the great players. >>leaving her mark >> a fabulous addition to any team, a great leader >> gary:number one ranked in america, you play them this weekend >>gino is an excellent basketball coach.fun to be around he has a great program >>richard will be tweeting about us >> gary:explain the nerd nation for us not familiar >>stanford. with the tape on the glasses.. cool to be a nerd now >>i did lose my voice a little. i love your show gary. its great to watch pam keeping you in line. >> pam: (laughter) >> gary: i made pam! >> gary:thank you, tara >>thank you, gary >> gary: getting carried away >> gary: you can definitely make wound super bowl with that shot as our core that and then on that is the gatt that could lead this to the sup

he talked about looking at the whitehouse window saying i have been thinking about at the window and reflecting on the past eight years and what they have meant. the image that comes to mind like a refrain is a nautical one. a small story about a big ship, and a sailor. it was the height of the boat period. these were the vietnam boat people after we left and vietnam was communist and we had thousands of people flewing like in cuba as well. the american sailor was hard at work on the ship patrolling the south china sea. the crews spied a leaky boat and there were refugees inside hoping to get to america. they sent a launch to bring the ship in to safety. as they went through the choppy seas, one saw the sailor on deck and looked up to him as the sail sailor held out a hand and he yelled, hello american sailor, hello freedom man. imagine that. this boat person, at that moment, he is more than a boat person. he is the spokesperson for freedom. as reagan was at that moment. you have a symbol here that is more profound and deeper than the south china sea. he doesn't look up and say hello

what we are talking about is not just al franken but senator sheldon whitehouse is the one who held thisen, you got to get on the stick here. lerner e-mails, sheldon white house is also part of the irs can who is pressuring the irs to do more. one final point this is all about the irs cracking down on political expenditures by nonprofits. what about the national treasury employees union, this is where the irs officials and workers are in this government union. that union gave a lot of money to democrats and potentially to many in the irs can. so sorry to wrap up like that. i know you got to go but the fallout is big. stuart: check the big idea today, weibo, chinese twitter, stock has moved higher, 17 was the price at which it went public, 1899 is the phrase now. by the way, social media company basically, pulling other social media stocks higher. groupon, twitter, that is higher this morning, linkedin, social media stocks rallying in line with weibo, the ideal of the day. earth day next week. i know one person who will not be celebrating, john stossel. you will not. i know what you have

at 2:00, "fox news sunday," including tim scott, sheldon whitehouse, the ranking member on the ways andeans committee sander levin and charles missed danny of louisiana. "state of the union" follows at 3 p.m., with the chairman of the democratic campaign committee and the chairman of the national republican congressional committee. "face the nation" from cbs with marsha blackburn at 4 p.m. with a elijah cummings of maryland. the sunday network tv talk shows are on c-span radio, brought to you as a public service by the networks and c-span. again, rebroadcast of the shows begins with "meet the press" at one em, "this week" at 2 p.m. " 3:00 with "fox news sunday," and "face the nation" at four :00 on cbs. across the country, listen on xm satellite radio channel 120 download our free app for your smart phone, or listen online at c-span.org. host: it is early, but we have this from the w m you are page. yesterday at the institute of politics talking about running for president in 2016, regardless of what hillary rodham clinton decides to do. james kindle is the political director for w m yo

is some -- some is on the whitehouse and some of that is on the senate.the south com part of defense has been hit part and they are having to reduce drug intervention as a result. the combined message we seem to be sending, while each might have their own explanation, is that latin america isn't place of importance to us. and just because it isn't importance to us doesn't mean it isn't to cline china, iran, russia and russia is doing exercises in the caribbean for the first time in 20 years. i want to ask you about syria. the senate committee and full committee passed sr 34 dealing with aid in syria. and we are the largest provider to syrian refugees and much have been delivered to ngo's through the un to those who have fled. we passed a resolution picking up on the un security council saying now is the time for cross-border aid. there is 9 million people in need of assistance inside syria. the un has indicated that unimpeded border is supported by the council and our resolution called to bring back a plan on how we will be more aggressive in the deliver

i want to thank senators murphy, boxer and whitehouse who have organized a few of us to come to the floor today. they will be on the floor later this afternoon. but with so much discussion in the news about the recent completion of the march enrollment period, over seven million people enrolled in the affordable care through the exchanges, i feel like it's a good time to look at some of the benefits of the act but also where there is more work to do. madam president, i know you have been very focused on the -- where there is more work to do, and i applaud you for that. i'll talk about some of those issues as well. but first, let me just start with a couple of virginia stories because we hear stories from our constituents about the affordable care act. we have a 27-year-old woman in charlottesville who was diagnosed with uterine cancer. before the a.c.a., her previous insurance plan refused to cover her surgery because cancer was a preexisting condition, but she is now enrolled in a health plan under the a.c.a. and her doctor and hospital where she has planned the surgery were confirmed to

. >>> mary joe whitehouse testifies before the house financial services committee.he's expected to address lawmakers' worries about high-speed trading. while this is one of her primary concerns she's given no signals that the s.e.c. will try to reign in high frequency trading. >>> and on the agenda in the united states, the monthly s&p home price index. that's out at 9:00 a.m. eastern. prices forecast to have risen 13.1% in february. at 10:00 we get april consumer confidence. that's expected to rise slightly from last month and on the earnings front, looking out for numbers from bristol-myers, merck, adm, coach, forest labs, mgm mirage, goodyear and ebay. we'll also hear from twitter and dreamworks animation. >>> at&t has unveiled plans to launch its own wi-fi service on planes. we'll have the details, coming up. ♪ [ banker ] sydney needed some financial guidance so she could take her dream to the next level. so we talked about her options. her valuable assets were staying. and selling her car wouldn't fly. we helped sydney manage her debt and prioritize her goals,

astor had this idea, approached jefferson and he endorsed it at the whitehouse. it was astor's idea to capture all of the furs through and funnel them through the mouth of the columbia river and sell them to china. in china these furs, especially sea otter, fetched high prices because the chinese mandarin used the sea otter furs which were luxury and the finest and densest coast of any animal in the year. astor wasn't the first ship on the west coast but he was one of the earlier ones. he came up with this idea of sending trade goods from new york around cape horn by ship to the mouth of the columbia trading them to the coastal indians here for furs. trading things like knifes, beads and pots. and then taking those furs to china, trading them to the chinese for incredible markups in both places. taking chinese luxury goods like silks, keys, porcelain back around the world to london and new york. his idea was to have especially a fleet of ships circling the globe continuous and trading along the way at an incredible markup. and thomas jefferson was hoping that the

i'd like to thank senators coons, whitehouse, ayotte, johnson and patty must remember, budget committee -- patty murray and my staff and others who have been relentless in working through with other committees and the administration to make sure that we got this bill done. so while we may not have resolved all of the issues of the day, today the senate acted in a unanimous bipartisan way to actually provide better value for taxpayers, more transparency and less bureaucracy. i'd say for a thursday afternoon, with all the other discussion going on, work well done. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: i ask consent that the senator from north carolina and i be allowed to engage in colloquy for 20 minutes and following that, the senator from iowa be recognized. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. alexander: thank you. mr. president, the senator from north carolina and i were both involved in intercollegiate athletics. he was a scholarship athlete at wake forest university and i was

he talked about looking at the whitehouse window saying i have been thinking about at the window and reflecting on the past eight years and what they have meant. the image that comes to mind like a refrain is a nautical one. a small story about a big ship, and a sailor. it was the height of the boat period. these were the vietnam boat people after we left and vietnam was communist and we had thousands of people flewing like in cuba as well. the american sailor was hard at work on the ship patrolling the south china sea. the crews spied a leaky boat and there were refugees inside hoping to get to america. they sent a launch to bring the ship in to safety. as they went through the choppy seas, one saw the sailor on deck and looked up to him as the sail sailor held out a hand and he yelled, hello american sailor, hello freedom man. imagine that. this boat person, at that moment, he is more than a boat person. he is the spokesperson for freedom. as reagan was at that moment. you have a symbol here that is more profound and deeper than the south china sea. he doesn't look up and say hello

it's another top republican, john cornyn, who is working with sheldon whitehouse on a bill that wouldnmates eligible for early release if they complete a rehabilitation program. that bill passed the committee on a 15-2 vote earlier this year. also rand paul teamed up with pat leahy on making it option for judges. the change on the right is driven by the huge financial burden that the harsh laws enacted over the last generation placed on the government. at the federal level incarceration costs $30,000 a year for one prisoner. if one quarter of the entire budget now goes to funding the federal prison system. at the state level, the strain is more pronounced. a bill is expected ob taken up soon. if you want to know how significantly the politics have been reshaped, consider this. there's as much concern about democrats sinking it as republicans. dick durbin, the democrat working with mike lee, explained it this way. "the ghost of willie horton has loomed over any conversation about sentencing reform for over 30 years." durbin's math is a little off. willie horton was the convicted felon

he wanted to know who at irs the doj folks could talk about senator whitehouse's idea at the hearinghat doj could piece together false statement cases about applicants who lied on their 1024s saying they weren't planning on doing political activity and turning around and making large, visible political expenditures. now the response to that note written by then acting irs commissioner's chief of staff suggested including in their little brainstorming circle the criminal investigation division of the irs in the effort. there's another email that was also obtained by judicial watch features lerner admitting to a reporter she didn't know of anyone on the political spectrum other than conservatives being targeted at all. remember, jenna, the first word from lerner last year when all this stuff started coming out, she said that the targeting began and end he had at a field office in cincinnati. that does not appear to be the case. jenna: so peter, what kind of reaction is this getting from lawmakers? >> reporter: jenna, republicans think this strengthens their case to hold earn lerner in

environmentally orient 9 democrats, representative henry waxman of california and sheldon whitehouse of rhode island written secretary of state john kerry saying approve of the pipeline is a choice between business as usual and facing up to the reality of climate change. one democratic analyst believes re-election battles of those 11 democratic senators are not the first priority of the president. >> i don't think the administration is looking at this from a political standpoint. if they were, it would be pass it, approve it. >> reporter: some of these threatened red state dems have been spending a lot of money on ads supporting the pipeline, jon. jon: i guess there are really some other political risks for democrats if that pipeline is not built, huh? >> reporter: all you need to do is look at europe, germany for example. heavily subsidizes renewable energy. it is sold at a loss which is made up for imposing a surcharge on household electric bills. critics say it is not economic al. a lot of homeowners and electricity bill payers are protesting vehemently. those opposed to the pipel

nevada, leahy, tester, boxer, schumer, durbin, casey, coons, rockefeller, levin, cantwell, nelson, whitehouse, murphy, murray, udall of new mexico and king. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. without objection. mr. reid: might have to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in faye say aye. all -- all in favor say aye. opposed nay. the motion carries. mr. reid: i now move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 587. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. opposed nay. the ayes have it. the motion is agreed to and the the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: manish s. s. shah of illinois to be united states district judge. mr. reid: i send a cloture motion to the desk, mr. president. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion. we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of m

> good afternoon everyone and i am very pleased to be joined by my colleague and friend senator whitehouse. this morning as you well know the supreme court announced a decision in mccutcheon versus fec. while we are still pouring through the text a few things are clear. the roberts court is yet again turning back the clock on our democracy by limine being the cap on overall donations to federal candidates, political parties and pacs. this in itself is a small step but it's another step on the road to a nation of our political system that the supreme court is clearly headed down. they wish to dismantle all limits on giving piece by piece until we are back to the days of the robber barons when anyone or anything could give unlimited money, undisclosed and make our political system seems so rigged that everyone will lose interest in our congress. the implications of this decision are huge even though the individual question before the court was small. the koch brothers and other wealthy donors have already wreaked havoc on our political system. this decision and those that will follow it seem

and it can be done in a way in which we don't have to go through the normal process in which the whitehouse tries to get an ini initiatiini initive passed through the congress. >> we will examine it and i look forward to working with you. the desire that you have is one that i share, and we share and we will work together on what the mechanisms might be. >> mr. rogers? >> mr. attorney general, i want to talk to you about prescription drug abuse. our favorite subject. we have real changes in the war, if you will, in the last few days. when the fda, after ten years of pushing by the dea and attorney general and me and others, finally upscheduled vicodan and loratabs from schedule three to schedule 2 which is significant because a schedule ii drug requires a written prescription, can't be called in and there is no automatic refill, harsher penalties and trafficking and so forth. so it was a big-time victory for the fight against prescription drug abuse. the ... escription drug abuse, by the center for disease control calls a national epidemic, and which you recently said is an urgent public he

so that's why senator boxer and myself and senator stabenow and senator whitehouse and so many others have been coming down to the floor to talk about the fact that the affordable care act is working and for all the naysayers, for all the people who predict that had this law couldn't work, the example is, has been set. seven million people and counting signed up for health care exchanges all across this country. never mind all the people who have gotten access to medicaid. never mind all the people who have been able to stay on their parents' plan. we don't nope what the overall -- don't know what the overall number right now will be of people who have qualified for health care under the exchanges, medicaid and the provisions allow people to stay on their plans. but this number could be 25 million by the time the year is out. and so, mr. president, i was thrilled to see the success of the affordable care act and the number from yesterday. i'm thrilled to see lifechanging benefits for women all across the country. i'm pleased to be joined here on the floor by my colleague, senator boxe