senate historian after 34 years on the job. >> dick baker, when you had the reception in the senate for your good-bye as senate historian, what did they give you? >> they gave me a framed senate resolution that designated me forever and ever senate historian emeritus. so i did some research to find out since there has never been a senate historian emeritus, where is the office space, what about parking, what about an i.d. card. i'm still doing the research, but it was a great honor and i will cherish it to my dying day. >> yeah, but they gave you something else. >> they also agreed to open the senate chamber galleries during the time that the senate is not in session. that has always been the case for 142 years until 9/11, and as one of the unfortunate consequences, of the many unfortunate consequences of 9/11, the galleries were closed when the senate was not in session. so, i had a quiet campaign to try to get that reversed. followed the historical pattern. and so apparently what they did as a gift was to agree to open the galleries during the month of august, turns out the house

senator roberts, and then i'll refer to senator chambliss. i know, for a second degree. >> madam chairwoman i relucta reluctantly oppose this amendment. it would provide mandatory funding to several of the energy title programs as the senate outlined. it would also create a new program, the rural energy savings program. and i know that several members and senators noted a majority support these programs, but i have very strong reservations about providing mandatory funding in this title, and the creation of a new program. throughout the process we have tried to be, or we have made every effort to be focus and finding a path to reduce federal spending, streamline programs and address areas of duplication. i respectfully suggest that this proposed amendment misses that mark. y will vote against the amendment and urge my colleagues to do the same. >> senator chambliss? >> thanks, madam chair, and i had a second-degree amendment that i need to make sure whether i need introduce it or not. let me ask a question to senator conrad. as i understand i

and senator lieberman and senator carper and senator collins and senator brown have worked very hard many others have worked very hard because if the postal service goes under or is dismembered, we are talking about 8 million jobs in this country small business people who are dependent on a strong postal service. postmaster general originally was talking about shutting down 3,700 rural post offices in every state in this country and i hope that members understand that a post office in a rural town is more than just a post office. that post office disappears, in many cases that town disappears. postmaster general was talking about significantly slowing mail delivery standards shutting down half of the processing plants in this country. and over a short period of time eliminating 200,000 jobs in this country over a short period of time. so i would hope that we could proceed have a serious debate on these issues hear all of the amendments, but at the end of the day i would hope that we would go forward and save the united states postal service. mr. corker: mr. president? mr. president?

senator graham is running late. senator leahy is out of the senate this morning. but was kind enough to allow me to convene this hearing. and i'm sure will add a statement to the record. i'm going to open the floor to senator graham when he does arrive. but, for the time being, because we have many colleagues here who have busy schedules of their own i want to turn to the first panel of witnesses. at the outset i do want to note that i invited the department of justice to participate in today's hearing but they declined. we're honored to be joined today by our colleagues from senate and the house. in keeping with the practice of the committee, first we'll hear from members of the senate, then members of the house, practice which i loathe in the house, but now that we're running the show, you have to live with it, house colleagues. each witness will have three minutes for an opening statement. complete written statement will be into the record. first witness, senator cardin, sponsor of the end racial profiling act which i'm proud to cosponsor. this is cardin's seco

do we have any amendments from the senators? senator bennett? >> i would like to call up ben it amendment number one. before i discuss this amendment, i just want to say i think you and the raking member have done terrific work on this title. it's been a great privilege to work with you on it. i thank you for accepting two of the aems that i filed to the conservation title. and bennett number four increasing funding for the voluntary public access program. it helps provide funding for our sportsmen and women. so thank you for working with me to accept these important amendments. to the amendment that's before the committee now would address an issue particular to the west. i want to thank my fellow committee senator boozman for joining me. i've heard from groups who have concerns over the current financing requirements for some important conservation easements. namely the scenario with a landowner wants to voluntarily donate and i underscore voluntarily donate part of the development value of their land to help finance an easement, but the law l

we have to wait for the senate to propose a budget to have a reconciliation between house and senate to get a budget. is that sort of how the process works? >> normally a budget by the president, budget adopted by the house, adopted by the senate, but you know basically the budget process is expression of the party who drafted that budget's value and blueprint for how you are going to structure the nation's fiscal house. basically that's what it comes down to. >> greta: okay. so the house budget is republican. those are different values than your own. but that without the -- >> quite different. >> greta: quite different. i understand that. but without the senate having a budget it's sort of stops everything and the senate is currently run by, majority by the democratic party. they have 54 votes if you consider the 51 democrats, two independents who caucus with the democrats and of course they get the vice president. until the democrats -- until the senate has its budget it doesn't enable you to sit down and work your values out and talk and work out a solution for the rest of the cou

this woman senator lugar. so john. >> ryan, thank you for that kind introduction and a little trip down memory lane. the one part of the story brain didn't mention this when i boarded out of going to albania brain kicked me ferociously under the table and i guess i've been recognized it wasn't the smartest thing to be saying to strangers. so thank you so much for cohosting this event might also like to thank kathleen angelo from book one of the bookstore here in town who is cohosting. i very much appreciate that. i'd also like to thank marche data center here at vienna landmarks for allowing us to use this incredible facility. it's really beautiful. and i'd like to think rebecca: and maybe clark and her colleagues from iu press come indiana university press been wonderful to work with in the project. it's been a pleasure to work with them. but i'm here to talk about tonight is this book, which brian mentioned called "richard g. lugar, statesman of the senate." i have to mention when i talk to people in on the

blumenthal, nor boxer, senator gillibrand, senator lautenberg, senator levin, senator menendez, senator mikulski, senator harry reid, senator stabenow and senator mark udall. i thank my cosponsors for joining me in this legislation. this legislation would make it clear that racial profiling will not be allowed in this country. racial profiling is un-american. it's against the values of our nation. it's contrary to the 14th amendment of the constitution which provides for equal protection under the law. it's counterproductive. it doesn't keep us safe. you're using valuable police resources in a way that is wasting those resources. it's sloppy police work. if you try to identify a problem by race rather than looking for good police work to identify the real perpetrator of a crime. it also creates a mistrust in the community that you're trying to protect. a community who you need to help you, cooperate with you as far as keeping a community safe. so for all those reasons, racial profiling should have no place in modern law enforcement. we need a national law. mr. president, i was impressed

both senator toomey and paul have presented their own in the senate. we also have the president who followed a law and submitted a budget, but i would say it didn't receive a single vote from a democratic or a republican in the house of representatives this year. we know from the it increases spending every year in the budget window. we know the president's budget would add $10 trillion to the debt. this further weakenseses our fiscal house. and now every man, woman and child. would also note the president wants to raise taxes on the american people. his budget i think cluds $2 trillion in higher taxes. finally we know the president's budget does not make a serious attempt to strengthen programs like medicare and social security, which we all know are unsustainable. in other words, the president proposes a big tax increase before dealing with the spiraling cost of entitlement programs, chasing higher spending with higher taxes. st this is not a prescription to either put americans back to work, or get the fiscal house in order. i sincerely hope that th

so senator roberts and senator conrad? >> well, let me just say that i really like going back to the simplicity of using the five-year olympic average price for both the individual and the county level. i am very encouraged. i think that this amendment will allow payment rates from both the individual and the county coverage, i do also appreciate the chance to work with you, senator baucus, and conrad, and senator hoven as well who played a very important role. ike and joel and tara have been nominated for bronze stars. the purple heart. >> that's right. >> and i thank think jonathan and jill, silver stars. i guess that's just the minority, i don't know. what the senator inkaindicate t montana. these people have been going days, weeks in a row with very little sleep and with many changes we've made, because members make changes, and many times they are necessary, and sometimes they are not. but they stayed with it, and they have worked overtime to a degree that has been amazing. i don't think many members really understand

thank you, senator. now we'll hear from senator gallardo. >> thank you. mr. chairman, members, for the record, my name is steve gallardo. i'm a state senator from arizona, representing district 13. it is my privilege to have the opportunity to give my perspective and experience regarding arizona's senate bill 1070. mr. chairman, members, senate bill 1070 has perpetuated a climate of fear and vision within the state of arizona. without any doubt, senate bill 1070 has done arizona and her people a great disservice and has done nothing to secure the borders or resolve any of our immigration problems. arizona law has unfortunately a subject latino citizens to racial profiling and harassment. the following situations will illustrate how senate bill 1070 has negatively affected the lives of many la teen knows latinos throughout the state of arizona. senate bill 1070 has created racial tension and distrust between latinos and law enforcement, as well as latinos and non-latino neighbors. i'll give you an example. the tragic death of juan rivela, a citizen murdered in

time to the senator from minnesota, senator klobuchar. mr. menendez: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: first of all, i want to salute the distinguished chairman of the judiciary committee for the incredible work that he has done to bring us to this moment. i held a round table in new jersey with about 35 organizations who deal with the challenge of violence against women, and they unequivocally expressed their support for what we are doing here today and the importance in the lives of women that they deal with every day. and i know that my friends on the other side of the aisle are trying to strip provisions that protect women from discrimination and abuse in certain categories. and in my view, violence against any woman is still violence. the nation has been outraged about violence against women for almost two decades. we've seen the violence. we've continued to fight against it. we have tried to end it. in my mind, there is no doubt that i would find it very hard to understand why anyone

i wanted to say the comments of senator mikulski and senator hutchison. i think the -- died before he knew this was a faulty prosecution. that elevates this to a new height. so i think this investigation is really important, and i think that actions have to be taken, and i just wanted to express that. what -- i wanted to follow-up on senator brown's comment. it's my understanding that more -- there's more oil available in the united states than demand calls for. and as a matter of fact, surplus is being sold outside. this, i think, would bring to special attention the issue of speculation, and i hope the study that you're doing is going to take a good look at the financial marketplace with regard to its ability to impact price in this way. >> well, as i said, the oil and gas working group that we formed last year as part of the president's financial fraud enforcement task force has been meeting. it just happens that they are having a call today, meeting, either tomorrow or on, the full committee will be getting together to look at the full issues you've r

in the senate. now, some of the earmarks that again appeared in prior years that we think could violate the moratorium include $35 million for the national energy technology laboratory, $10 million for the chicago sanitary and ship dispersal barrier, $8.9 million for san joaquin river restoration, and $3 million for aquatic plant control. one-run of the longest-running earmarks which this year received $5.9 million, is the east-west center in hawaii. the senator has received ten earmarks worth $103.8 million since 2001 -- i'm sorry. since 1997. it's been around longer. al added by senate appropriations committee chairman daniel inouye. and the senator admitted in 2007 that the project was committed over the objections of the state department and without any hearings. a similar group, the north-south center, stopped receiving earmarks in 2001. there is that doubt that funding for the east-west center also would have gone south were it not located in the state of the senate appropriations committee ch

keep control of the senate. he joins me for his first national interview since declaring his candidacy. ♪ ( whirring and crackling sounds ) man: assembly lines that fix themselves. the most innovative companies are doing things they never could before, by building on the cisco intelligent network. recently, students from 31 countries took part in a science test. the top academic performers surprised some people. so did the country that came in 17th place. let's raise the bar and elevate our academic standards. let's do what's best for our students-by investing in our teachers. let's solve this. avoid bad.fats. don't go over 2000... 1200 calories a day. carbs are bad. carbs are good. the story keeps changing. so i'm not listening... to anyone but myself. i know better nutrition when i see it: great grains. great grains cereal starts whole and stays whole. see the seam? more processed flakes look nothing like natural grains. you can't argue with nutrition you can see. great grains. search great grains and see fo

lieberman, senator collins, senator franken. broadly defined human contracting means forced labor and other coercive labor that contribute to trafficking. requiring workers to leave their home countries based on fraudulent promises, confiscating passports, charging workers recruitment fees that consume more than a month's salary and many other forms of abuse that were mentioned in the commission's report. we should be clear that the overwhelming majority of u.s. contractors and subcreditors are law-abiding and reputable. and they are doing a good job in a difficult situation. they've made it a priority to ensure abusive labor practices play no role in this challenging work they are doing in iraq and afghanistan. our proposal is designed to show the best practices adopted by those contractors become standard practice for all contractors. and they include requiring contractors to have compliance plan in place, reporting and monitoring requirements to ensure credible evidence immediately triggers an investigation and giving contrac

senator kyl, next with -- no, we'll go to senator kyl next. senator grassley would have been next, but he's -- yielding to senator kyl prior to me and then we'll go to senator schumer. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, senator grassley. this isn't the first time that senator feinstein and i seemed to have been thinking about exactly the same thing. let me just quickly touch on the three things that she mentioned which were also concern to me. on student visas, it's not just a matter of the sham schools but also the failure of i.c.e. to follow up with students how have overstayed their visas and the very poor record of schools providing information to i.c.e. second on the ag worker, the h 2 a regulars could be reformed. it's not just a matter of our failure to pass legislation here. h 2 a regulations were reformed toward the end of the bush administration. they were more workable i'm told. that was then changed with the obama administration. if we could the work more toward the kind of regulars that existed toward the end of the bush admin

both senator toomey and paul have introduced their own budget proposals in the senate. we also have the president who followed a law and submitted a budget, but i would note as the senator already has, it did not receive a single vote in the senate last year, nor did the president's budget receive a single vote from a democrat or a republican in the house of representatives this year. i think we have a good idea why no member of the house supported the president's budget. we know from the nonpartisan congressional budget office that the president's budget increases spending every year in the budget window. we know the president's budget would add $10 trillion to the debt. this further weakens our fiscal house and now, of course, every man, woman and child in america owes at least $50,000 in national debt. we also know that the president wants to raise taxes on the american people. of course his budget includes $2 trillion in higher taxes. finally we know the president's budget does not make a serious attempt to strengthen programs like medicare and social security, whic

senator coats, senator gregg, senator sessions and i have talked about this. we have an understanding of what needs to be done. you have to go in there and choice out a huge array of those loopholes, use those same dollars to hold down rates for everybody and keep progressivity. when we did this in 1986, we created according to the bureau of labor statistics 6.3 million new jobs within two years. and i'm not going to say, mr. chairman and colleagues, that every one of those jobs came about through tax reform. but it certainly didn't hurt in terms of setting the climate for growth. and now since 1986 we've had a host of commissions that have essentially said the same thing. the commission that was put together by george w. bush essentially proposed a updated version of what was done in 1986, the volcker commission proposed the same thing, bowles-simpson. we all sat in this room and i was, frankly, thrilled when erskine bowles said we pretty much looked at what senator gregg and i had been talking about, and we know what needs to be done, the question is whether

senator lee. senator frank? >> thank you, mr. chairman. considering several cyber security proposals. this morning i want to talk with you about the cyber security proposals that are here in the senate. because while there's a bill, i want to talk about privacy and civil liberties, implications of the house proposals and rightly so. fewer people are talking about the two bills here in the senate. the fact is that as they are currently drafted, both of the cyber security proposals here in the senate propose very serious threats to our privacy and civil liberties. both bills allow companies the unfettered ability to monitor the e-mails and files of their customers. both bills may allow companies to share that information directly with the military. both bills generally allow the federal government to freely share that information with law enforcement and both bills immunize companies against grossly negligent and knowing violations of the protections that apply in this process. in doing all of this, both of these bills sweep aside decades of

so not only will the constituents that i and senator merkley and senator feinstein and senator boxer represent in oregon and california be affected by this amendment, but states such as nevada, arizona, florida, georgia, iowa, kansas, maine, nebraska, new jersey, new mexico, north carolina, ohio, oklahoma, utah, wisconsin, and wyoming are just part of the many communities in this country that this amendment would protect. in september of 2011, madam president, election officials in california were doing their jobs and preparing and mailing sample ballots for september election in an isolated community in northern california. unaware that the small post office that serves the area was closing on october 1, the sample ballots were not immediately returned so they had no reason to believe that the voters there had not received them. but as ballots slowly trickled in, election officials grew a bit suspicious and they learned that many voters had received -- had just received their sample ballot more than three weeks after it was mailed and many had not received their official ballot yet.

i know senator lieberman, senator brown, senator collins have no interest in doing that. this is the time to fix the problem, to fix the problem. i'd like to think we are smart enough here in the senate to fix this problem. i'd like to think we are smart enough in the senate to work with the house, our staffs, we have a lot of good people, the folks at the postal service, the folks who work there, the unions, their customers, and a lot of people are in businesses all over the country. together working on this, i think are smart enough to figure out how to solve this. we need to do that. last thought. during the recess, i mentioned to my colleagues, the presiding officer, to senator lieberman during our caucus lunch today. i don't know what you guys and gals did over the easter recess. i basically just covered delaware like a glove. i love to do it. i go back every night anyway. it's great joy. you know what i mean, to kind of reconnect with everybody. i also spent some time on the phone and meeting with folks who are in businesses in delaware and outside of delaware who u

madam chair on behalf of senator casey and senator gillibrand, concurring that we will work with senator chambliss and senator johns and usda. this is important, i want to emphasize how important it is the secretary have this authority to deal with natural disasters as kirsten said, but also to deal just with the persistent problems of hunger in our communities, and we will work on something as quickly as we can and hope to get an answer -- >> madam secretary, may we just delay the consideration of this amendment until the end of our considerations today to give the usda and secretary personally the opportunity to assess this and decide what he'd like? because if -- >> if there's no objection, we can certainly -- >> provide clarity from the secretary. >> is there any objection to coming back to this at some later point? if not, then we will do that. we will hold it, and if you find there's a way to come together, we can come back to a later point and proceed. certainly share the concern -- addressed by this and like to see it resolved. >> if we can't come to an agreement during the cours

thank you. >> we will now go to senator grassy, senator kyle. no, senator kyle. senator kyle is behind me, then we'll go to senator schumer. >> thank you. this isn't the first time that senator feinstein and i have been thinking about the same thing. let me touch on the three things which were a concern. on student visas it's not just the sham schools but also the failure of i.c.e. to follow up with student who is have overstayed air visa and the poor record of schools providing information to ice. on the ag workers, the regs could be reformed. it's not just our failure. h 2-a regulations were more workable i'm told, that was then changed with the obama administration. if we could work more toward the kind of regs that existed toward the end temperature bush registration that might be a help for some. on the visa overstays, i think your budget was denied $30 million by the appropriations committee because of its frustration with the lack of a plan. we need to get that plan implemented as well as up here. let me go on to -- >> if i might, can i talk about the visa

verella is dead over senate bill 1070. these are the unintended consequences that comes from legislation when the state tries to fix what is ultimately a federal immigration problem and that forces law enforcement to try to enforce it. and then there's penalties against any law enforcement officer who doesn't enforce it. and -- >> are you familiar with any other statute in arizona, you or senator deconcini, where a private citizen can sue because the individual officer was not enforcing the law? >> not one. not one, mr. chairman. >> mr. chairman, i have not done the research, but i served as a county attorney there. i knew no laws at that time -- that was way last century, i must say, and i haven't read every law, but i' talk to polic officers all the time. i know of no other law. perhaps there are some, but i don't know of any. >> we couldn't find one. there may be one or two, but it's certainly the exception to the law. mr. pearce -- >> mr. chairman, it is the exception, if there is. >> if there is, yeah. mr. pearce, you

the floor is yours. >> thank you, senator durbin. also thank you, senator graham. thank you for holding this important hearing. thank you for urging attorney general holder to revise the justice department's racial profiling guidance. it's very important. as you know, that guidance has a loophole allowing law enforcement to profile american citizens based on religion and national origin. while many -- any profiling of americans based on race, ethnicity, religion or national origin is disturbing, i think it's important also to note that it is poor law enforcement. law enforcement is a finite resource. using law enforcement resources profiling as opposed to relying on facts based on behavior suggesting a crime is a waste of that law enforcement resource. it leaves us less safe and more at risk when we don't target based on conduct and behavior suggestive of a crime, but based on other considerations and formed by prejudice. my comments will focus on religious profiling of american muslims. americans know what it looks to be -- muslim americans work hard and play by t

means two-thirds vote of the senate. but what is the advice of the senate? how does the president get the senate's advice? constitution does not say. so in washington's first year in office, he's preparing to negotiate a treaty with the cherokee indians who then live in western georgia, what's now alabama and mississippi. and this is a powerful, aggressive indian nation. they sided with britain during the revolution. and it was very important to make nice with them. so the senate is meeting where congress is which is where federal hall now is on wall street in new york city. washington comes to the senate with the secretary of war. and handles indian affairs. vice president john adams lets washington occupy his seat. and then adams reads the draft of cherokee treaty to the senate article by article. and asking for their advice and for their approval. now as he is reading one senator interrupts to say there is too much noise on the street and he can't hear what the vice president is saying. could they please close the windows. this is done. then a second sena

thank you. >> thank you, senator kerry. senator pryor? >> thank you, mr. chairman, and thank you for having this hearing. it's been great. mr. diller, if i can start with you. i know that when senator kerry asked you about what's there to prevent you to start your own thing on the internet, there's absolutely nothing. you're obviously excited about that. and it is exciting. but i also have a question about regulation and what regulatory environment you think there should be out there. for example, we recently passed -- i guess it was last year -- the 21st century communication video accessibility act, which makes sure that certain devices that aren't covered by previous law, the handicap, could have access to those. and one of those examples that we gave was when folks were watching a movie like "the wizard of oz" online, it doesn't have to be closed captions, but on television, it is. those are regulations that don't necessarily infringe much, but they do make this access available to everybody. so if you look at something like today, like xbox 360, i don

next, we'll go to senator deconcini. >> mr. chairman, senator durbin. i want to thank you very much for an opportunity to address this very important issue. not only to my home state of arizona but to our nation. the constitutionality and prudence of federal immigration and enforcement laws by state and local governments is indeed a complex issue. mr. chairman, i'm a native arizona resident, i grew up in that state, i came from neighborhoods and business and law practice with multitude of hispanic and mexican friends, investors, what have you. we worked together, we shared each otherness heritage and experience. the culture of our state reflects the rich history of the latino influence. but during the last two years, mr. chairman, we have unduly harmed our legal latino residents in this process. the solution of the problems coming into this country illegally. we have let rhetoric and political advantage cloud this sound judgment. mr. chairman, this hearing is partly about 1070 and mostly seeing that the supreme court will address it tomorrow. i believe

i would just note that senator lee will go next. i will turn the gavel over to senator coons. i am doing this so that we are trying to keep some of our hairlines. [laughter] sorry about that. but senator coons has worked very very hard on the subject and i've asked him to chair as we go, we will go to senator lead next but i do appreciate what you said and i would add, and i think i can speak or senator grassley and others, we will want to keep in touch with you and the director of the secret service as this whole matter goes on, not just what has happened now, what is happening in the future. and what will happen in the future. we will do it because our obvious oversight has a need to do it for the protection that will keep people in this case in a presidential election year, both the president and the republican nominee. but also because we have so many good men and women in the secret service that i hope will be able to demonstrate there their thera few bad apples that are weeded out so that the others who are extraordinarily dedicated and highly trained professionals can c

let me start by saying that i respect the work that you and senator crapo and senator warner did on the gang of six and continue to do. and you have done so at some political risk. and yet you're not the budget committee. you know, and you don't have the ability to be able to do as we could do in this committee, take something to the floor for an up or down vote. under the '74 budget act, we can do that. we can actually report something out with just 12 of us around this table. how many do we have right now? can we count you guys? we had 12 earlier. and then it's just mere majority. because, again, the budget act provides for the special expedited and peer majority consideration of a budget proposal that comes out of this committee. so i think that's what we ought to be doing. and i actually think senator vag itch and senator warner following him made the case as well as anybody i've heard today about why it's important to have a budget. although senator vag itch isn't here to defend himself. he was kind of saying bca provides some of the budget discipline that is necessary on discretio

senator baker, i am considering one running for the senate. senator baker, you're not a politician. senator baker, i have to be honest, i have never put out very many yard signs. senator baker, you have not paid your political d. was? along the four hour drive over. senator vitter, i have never run for political office. senator, you are a doctor with no political experience. as i understand, and i really just want to ask you your device, senator baker, no, bill frist, come back here. you are going to run for the united states senate. and i said, senator baker, but why? because this senate should be the seat of citizens legislators. i know that story because it was ingrained. senator baker is the enemy of -- he is the enemy of a legislator. from a humble background, coming back to huntsville, tennessee. hearing the call and going to his home -- coming back home, envisioning the bpc with senator daschle, george mitchell, the idea of the citizen's legislature. thank you, for your embodiment of what makes this country great. [applause] >> it is my honor to introduce my friend and confid

one of the great senators. the 60's and the 70's, the jury probe found moments in american history. coming back to what i remember is the question of the civil rights movement and the profound impact that have on this country but it wasn't only martin luther king jr., there was the black panthers, the assassination of the early 60's of president kennedy and what that meant to the country. clearly the war in vietnam profoundly impacted the whole nation dividing us and so forth. the rapid speed by which president johnson of the society and the impact that had. the cultural movement, woodstock and women's movement, the environmental movement, etc., etc.. talk for a moment about the great senate in your words and all of these profound movements and events taking place in american history at that moment at the time. >> guest: i think the connection is that historically the senate had been a disappointment that countries should be moving forward. robert carow and william wright have written and described the senate a

in the senate. it's interesting. i know that -- i've always said michigan has more diversity crops than the other states so so we have to pay attention to every page of the farm bill. senator bozeman has to pay attention to rice, rice, rice. he is a strong advocate. we know we have more work do with you, and we will. we're grateful for your hard work. >> well, thank you, madam chair, and we do appreciate, and i want to echo what's been said about your hard work and the ranking member's hard work and also your patience. senator baucus alluded to -- and many others -- the phone calls, the e-mails, the grabbings on the floor and stuff. and, again, we do appreciate you and the ranking member for putting up with us and trying to address our needs. the other thing i think we have to recognize is your staff and the ranking member's staff. but also, as i look around the room and i see all of our staffers sitting here with bags underneath their eyes, we really do appreciate their hard work. the nation truly

keep control of the senate. he joins me for his first national interview since declaring his candidacy. great shot. how did the nba become the hottest league on the planet? by building on the cisco intelligent network they're able to serve up live video, and instant replays, creating fans from berlin to beijing. what can we help you build? nice shot kid. the nba around the world built by the only company that could. cisco. is this where we're at now? we just eat whatever tastes good? like these sweet honey clusters... actually there's a half a day's worth of fiber in every ... why stop at cereal? bring on the pork chops and the hot fudge. fantastic. are you done sweetie? yea [ male announcer ] fiber one. are you done sweetie? yea according to the signs, ford is having some sort of big tire event. i just want to confirm a few things with fiona. how would you describe the event? it's big. no,i mean in terms of savings how would you sum it up? big in your own words, with respect to selection, what would you say? bi

and that's the way the senate used to be. that's the way the senate should be. incidentally, when dick and i started we sat down about where those paintings are. we were that junior. your mark includes an important dairy reform proposal that i believe will help our producers and consumers -- excuse me -- this dairy reform proposal can help our producers and consumers get off the dangerous price swings. i think it's key to can trgs of the farm bill. i know farmers in vermont are watching it closely, as i am. i hope that we can find a bipartisan compromise that will create both a new margin protection program and allow our farmers to have a proactive effort in their -- in their farm programs. go a long way towards easing the volatility in dairy markets with the dairy market stabilization program. just like corn, wheat, soybeans, sugar, cotton, others in our country, dairy farmers work hard for a living and none of us want to leave them out. you've made great developments in rural development and conservation titles. i know both of you have worked to consolidate wh

senator is recognized for the senate. >> thank you, mr. chairman. when i hear comments about the house budget, i do get a little bit upset. they've had the courage to vote on it. we have not done that on this side. we keep saying, well, the budget control act is sufficient. if the budget control act is sufficient, why did the president put forward a budget? why didn't he just say the budget control act is sufficient and abrogate his obligation in much the same we're on rho gaiting our obligation? i was delighted -- i was disappointed when the senate defeated the conrad gregg proposal for deficit commission. i was pleased when the president went ahead and appointed one. and i was again disappointed when -- at his state of the union speech following that. he didn't paint the same bleak picture that hay hthey had pain. america doesn't realize the disaster that we're headed for. and had he painted that picture and then said, but i'll have a budget that will put that forward and put forward the simpson/bowles budget for us to detate and i assume pass if

senate. republicans say it would give companies more money to hire workers and democrats say there is no money to pay for this and it would only increase the deficit. so now the debate will continue as each chamber, one controlled by the republicans and the other by the democrats putting on the table a number of votes primarily in this election year to put on the record where each party and each member stands on taxes and the economy. details are limited but news tonight of an american defense official that a u.s. military helicopter has crashed in southwestern afghanistan, four u.s. troops are on board. officials say the crash is being investigated and the possibility the blackhawk helicopter was taken down by ruled out nor weather also being viewed as a potential factor. details are sketchy at this hour. >>> lawmakers looking into the investigation in the prostitution scandal involving the u.s. secret service agents saying tonight they expect more employees to depart either by resignation o

paul ryan this week, senator marco rubio. he has all the leading members of the republican party, past and present. you've been dismissive of these endorsements. at what point does this not reflect on you somewhat? these are members of your party who have made a judgment that it's romney, not senator santorum who has what it takes to win. >> if you listen to the endorsements, you know, they all say that, you know, the race has to end. same argument we've just been discussing here. it's not a great endorsement of governor romney. it's saying we need to end this. i would say this, everybody's entitled to a mistake in their life. rubio and ryan are pretty young. they'll recover from it. >> their endorsements were a mistake? >> well, absolutely, of course. anybody who endorses my opponent is a mistake. they should be endorsing me. we're getting the endorsements of people across the state of wisconsin. we're picking up key senators and house members, former speaker of the house here. the grass roots folks. people who will go out a

senate leadership and you need senator harry reid to support senator conrad in bringing a budget to the floor. we are already late. we should have done this april 1. we should pass a budget for april 15. the house has already done so. >> the house passed the ryan budget. it has been harshly criticized by the president and many others. would you be prepared to support that budget if it came to a vote in the senate? >> absolutely. i think most republicans in the senate would and we will probably try and force a vote on that and try -- >> it won't pass, though, will it? >> probably mott. that is a real shame because again you have to take a look at the overall problem here. ten years ago our federal government over the last ten years spent $28 trillion. the argument moving forward is the house budget would spent $40 trillion over the next ten years. president obama wants to spend $47 trillion. we are just trying to limit the rate of growth in government. >> what about that? >> what about it? >> it has been called a radical budget. social darwinism. goes to $40 trillion instead of 47. t

our goal is to hold the senate. we know their arithmetic as lopsided and it is a tough challenge for it we know we have a lot of incumbents who are in red states where the president is expected to win but from the beginning of the cycle when no one gives a shot until today, our goal is to hold the senate and we will do everything in our power to try to do that. >> our goal is to win the senate. >> what risky to up that night? -- what rafce keeps you up? >> i sleep very soundly a

senator murkowski was opposed in the primary by 80 party candidate and led by senator demint, and the tea party candidate cannibalized lisa and defeated her in the primary. then lisa came back as an extraordinary move to run a write-in campaign. if you spell at with a y sense of i the balad is thrown a and if you spell it with a o instead of a u it's thrown out, but she won. and i think senator murkowski's experience shows if you inform the public and motivate the public sufficiently you can reinforce what is outside of this building, we the people, the power is in the people. but it has to be exercised. he you know how often you hear people say well, one vote doesn't count. but that is replicated millions of times and then on voters control the process, and the extremists on slides control the elections come and if you want to win the iowa primaries, you have to stay up until the middle of the night to be in the caucus a couple of final notes of what has some wider sides to it. i tell about an experience with senator kennedy. i was relaxing in the hot tub one day in the world will co

goeber chard to be followed by senator hiller and senator kerry. >> thank you very much. thank you, mr. chairman, for holding this hearing. i wanted to follow up quickly first with senator thune referred to rural america. the fcc national broadband plan talks about getting broadband, including web pages, photos, video, to everyone, yet often the speeds aren't as fast in the rural areas. and could you talk, maybe one of the three of you that provide these services, about how you're working to make your delivery systems more available to rural america? >> senator, well, we are a platform company. we don't actually deliver broadband to the end point. wore dependent upon that essentially as the consumer is. >> i understand. >> we are certainly, as i said in my opening remarks, encouraging wider access to that at the fcc, 4 meg down, minimum threshold. because at that point, we feel in terms of both what we can deliver, in terms of high speed -- excuse me, high-quality video, hi-def quality video, that suits the needs we have as far as giving those consumers what they need. bu

. >> senator conrad. >> aye. >> senator baucus. >> aye. >> senator nelson. >> aye. >> senator brown. >> aye. >> senator casey. >> aye by proxy. >> senator klobuchar. >> aye. >> senator bennett. >> aye. >> senator gillibrand. >> no. >> chairwoman stabenow. >> aye. >> the total tally of senators present is 12 ayes, four nos. >> a majority of the committee being present and having voted in the affirmative, the committee print is ordered and reported to the senate as amended. i want to -- >> madam chair? >> -- without objection, let me just say the committee counsel is authorized to make technical and conforming changes consistent with the actions of the committee. and i want to thank everyone again for perfect work. >> madam chair? >> yes. >> i think there were five nos. >> yes. >> would the clerk repeat the final tally? >> sure. the total tally -- >> four present. one by proxy. >> i'm sorry. thank you, madam chair. >> let me just say in conclusion, again, this is a very historic day to have not only the major reforms we have but over $23 billion in deficit reduction. i don't know anoth

senator sessions. >> thank you, senator chambliss for that comment. general, it's great to be with you yesterday and talk about some of the issues you just mentioned because your understanding that senator kyl has on senator chambliss about the s.t.a.r.t. and what kind of funding would be laid out for the next decade that could modernize has not been funded and the number as senator kyl was deeply disappointed about that. 35 trouble today about this overheard conversation between the president and mr. medvedev where president obama said of all these things overheard a conversation but particularly missile defense this can be solved but it's important for him to give me space and medvedev said understand your message about space for youth. this is mike election and after i will have more flexibility. i understand and i will transmit this information to vladimir. this is not a little matter and i will tell you why it's not a little matter. we had a long debate over the missile defense and the reston's never favored missile defense. president bush was pr