Next, the 25 minute debate on the senate floor. It is now time for us to vote up or down on the nomination for many reasons. The nomination has been before us now inadequate time to get the information which our colleagues have asked for. There is also the looming fact of sequestration. We need to have a secretary of defense who is not only in office, but whose leadership is not in limbo, but is there. Our troops need it. Their families needed. Our country needs it. We have 66,000 military arsenal in harms way in afghanistan. The president of afghanistan has directed the United States to remove its special Operations Forces from a key afghan province. Our military bases key decisions about the pace of the drawdown between now and the end of 2014. The size and composition of a residual force in terms of conditions for the ongoing presence in afghanistan of the United StatesCoalition Partners after 2014. At the same time, we face new and growing threats elsewhere, including the ongoing threats posed by Irans NuclearWeapons Program and the civil war in syria with the risk that there could be loss of that countrys substantial stock aloe chemical weapons. There is a growing instability in other countries affected by the air of spring, of the arab spring. There is a continued on predict it will behavior of the Nuclear Armed regime in north korea of the unpredictable behavior of the Nuclear Armed regime in korea. Ameri this a question the sequester, the acrosstheboard cuts that will affect defense and just about every other agency that we have. Those cuts will be disastrous in many ways. I hope we can find ways to avoid them. As of now, the sequester is a real one. It is within a few days. The department of defense has already instituted civilian hiring freezes and reduced or eliminated temporary Term Employees and deferred the silly the maintenance and have begun to cancel Facility Maintenance and have begun to cancel shipments of aircraft and air vehicles. In the next two days, the department will implement additional action, including furloughs for most civilian employees and cutbacks in flying hours and other military training and tessellation of contracts. And cancellation of contracts. Those contracts have major costs. Those are not savings in the long term. We not only was the equipment and the product of the contracts, but we have cancellation costs, which will hit the treasury. The result of these looming cuts are truly devastating. They are serious. For example, the army. Sequestration continues, two thirds of its brigade combat teams will fall below acceptable readiness levels. The air force says it will not be able to support requirements outside of afghanistan. It will experience significant degradation in its airdrop and feeling disabilities. The navy says that their Carrier Strike groups will not be ready for scheduled deployments later this year, resulting in a definite extension of the truman and eisenhower appointments, with the resulting impact on morale and retention. Hundreds of Department Defense programs come acquisition programs, research and development projects, might become unexecutable because we have insufficient funds. By the end of the summer, the department of defense says it would he unable to pay its tri care bills. To deny that Critical Healthcare service to military members, families, and retirees our men and women in uniform need a secretary of defense that can lead them through these difficult times. They need a secretary of defense to defend the interest in the budget battles that we know are about to come. We need a secretary of defense to speak up and ensure that congress and the country understand the consequences of sequester. If a sequester cannot be avoided, help them avoid the worst of the consequences and two and the impacts as quickly as possible. And to end the impacts as quickly as possible. Now is not the time to leave the department of defense without a leadership. Information has been requested appropriately by colleagues about the nominee. Information has been provided to the best of the nominees ability. This falls into two categories request for senator hagels speeches and request for additional financial disclosure. With regard to the speeches, senator hagel and his team have conduct an exhaustive review and provided us with the speeches available to them. Also transcripts and video of speeches he has been able to obtain from outside sources. Before the recess, i placed on the record links to several other speeches that are found on the internet. And recent days, senator hagel has received additional requests for speeches in the exclusive control of the Washington Speakers Bureau and for access to his senatorial archives at the university of nebraska. On the first point, the Washington Speakers Bureau has informed senator hagel and the department of defense that all speeches given under are private off the record and not recorded except in rare cases where a customer request that a recording be kept or archival purposes only only for archival purposes only. They cannot confirm which of the clients may have recorded speeches. They cannot be provided to the senate. The university of nebraska holds title to senator hagels archives. The university has said that once the archives are processed and indexed, according to the standards of the society of american archivists, they will be open to the public. Until that time, they see the archives will not be open to the public. Again, since neither senator hagel or the department of defense has access to the materials, it cannot provide them to as. It is worth noting that the archives cover a period of his service in the senate. Senator hagel has an extensive record of speeches and votes during that time in the senate. These are readily accessible to the senators and the public. With regard to financial disclosure, senator hagels has complied to the conflict of interest rules that have applied to hundreds of nominees for senior Department Defense positions over the course of the last five administrations. Despite his compliance with the same Disclosure Rules that apply to everyone else, there has been innuendos that senator hagel was trying to hide something. For instance, senator hagel has served with a number of distinguished vehicles individuals. We have a senator suggested that in the evidence without any evidence that the fees he received for his services aimed directly from saudi arabia and or north korea. Another senator suggested that we should postpone a vote on a nomination because fox news was going to run a story tomorrow regarding some speeches that were made and paid for by foreign governments that may not be friendly to us. That story died before it was aired. It was apparently based on a hoax. These are unfair innuendos. They have been answered. You know they are unfair. Senator hagel has an extensive record of service to his country. As a young man, he enlisted in the army thomas served with distinction in vietnam, he served as the deputy administrator of the va during the reagan administration, he was a businessman. Many of are bit him during his two terms in that u. S. Senate eerie decency left, he has continued to serve many of them served with him during his two terms in the u. S. Senate before he left. He has continued to serve. Senator hagel has been endorsed by five former secretaries of defense, three former secretaries of state, and six former National Security advisers who served in both democratic and republican administratorions. He has been endorsed by the veterans of foreign wars. He has received this important and the noncommissioned officers association. Last month, senator hagel was endorsed in a letter signed i sit former u. S. Ambassadors to israel signed by former u. S. Ambassadors to israel. He later stated in part, we support strongly and without a vacation president obama cozy nominee chuck hagel to be the next secretary we support strongly president obamas nominee chuck hagel to be the next secretary of defense. His political courage have impressed us all. He has stood up for what he believes is best for the United States. Time and again he has chosen to take a path of standing up for our nation rather than a path of clinical expedients. He has supported the pillars of a strong military, robust ownership, a commitment to the security of israel as a friend and ally, a determination to stop the proliferation of new layer weapons, the defense of human rights as a core principle of americas role in the world. We urge speedy confirmation of chuck hagel. This is next down being this is an outstanding patriot. If confirmed, senator hagel will be the first former enlisted man in the first veteran of the vietnam war to serve as secretary of defense. His background gives a senator hagel and invaluable respective but only with respect to the difficult decisions and recommendations that a secretary of defense must make regarding the use of force and a commitment of u. S. Troops overseas, but also with respect to the day to day decisions a secretary of defense must make to ensure that our men and women in uniform and their families received the support and assistance that they need and deserve. It would be a positive message for our soldiers, it sailors, airmen, and remains to know that one of their own old the highest office in the department of defense. The president needs to have a secretary of defense in whom he trusts and would give him independent advice and is a person of integrity and one who has a personal understanding of the consequence of the decisions relevant to the use of military force. Senator hagel certainly has is critically important qualifications. He is wellqualified to lead the department of defense. The vote, which is coming at noon, is a vote to invoke and end to the debate so we can hopefully in some future our finally vote on this important nomination and end a situation where this nominee is in limbo and the leadership of the department of defense is uncertain and in limbo as well. The time has come to vote on the nomination of senator hagel. To do that, we must end the debate. Mr. President , i yield the floor. The senator from oklahoma. Vista president president , i agree with what our established chairman of the committee has said. Senator hagel is a brilliant has a brilliant military career. I look at my time and his time in the army. That is not the issue here. I think it is interesting that in the debate we had on the floor, all the time and the democrats have talked about his military record. There are some things that have to come out. They are very significant. First of all, what we are going to vote on at noon today is a vote that is a simple majority and that will be automatic. Those on the hagel nomination must be reflected on the boat that will take place vote that will take place at noon today. We are a little bit scarce on time. Let me make it real clear this is a vote that makes a difference. If they are able to get 60 votes for the hagel nomination, then it is over. I do want to say a couple of things for lawyer vacation. Clarification. One is a 60 vote threshold. I have been listening to some of the pundits on television. One of my a rate is one of the far left on Television One of my favorite is one of the far left on television. She was saying that this is something that had never happened before. We never had a 60 vote margin. That is not true. It happens all the time. It is a normal thing. That is how significant this confirmation is. And not go for a long amount of time. I will go over some of these. Kathleen sebelius, for example, 60 vote margin. 1 backinteresting when president bush was a republic was the president , he nominated Stephen Johnson to be the epa administrator. Stephen johnson was a democrat. The other side had been saying no, we will demand this. They got a 61 vote from that. Simmer the secretary of interior. The idea that this is the first time is not right here and i would appreciate it if people would be a little bit more honest when they are looking at that issue. They also have said that we are no one is more sensitive or have spent more time talking to troops than i have. We do need a confirmed as secretary of defense. Leon panetta says he will serve his time in till a new one is confirmed. If we can come up with 60 votes , i called up leon panetta not too long ago. I say, why dont you agree to run again . He has family reasons and i certainly understand. Another said she had one. Ash carter. A lot of them out there that could be confirmed in a matter of minutes. I would be right there with them in order to help that to take lace. I want to say something. Sometimes people do not understand. I had someone go back and research of this. I do not have the background on this erie it started back on this. Back then they use the term of approbation or rejection of the senate. It means the same thing. It has been going on for a long time. Hamilton talked about it. This is the rejection that they used at the time eri. Where are we today . Certainly the chairman of the Armed Services committee is one of the strongest supporters of consent. He has said that it is shocking and sad that the senate might vote on this nominee while senators are being denied critical and relevant information. The Ranking Member or the leader of the senate has said many times that raising impression that the nominee and the white house have something to hide is going in reverse. It goes on and on with different words on the significance of the role the senate has. John kerry has says what the senate has to decide is whether it will stand for the rights of the committee. Senators ought to respect that Ranking Members have requested and those requests have not been fulfilled. One of the new senators, one whom i have learned to have a great deal of respect for, i was talking him last night and said, you you ought to come down and let them know why it is that you are not speaking on this. He said, look, what can i do . I have requested over and over again or information for information on our nominee for secretary of defense. I have been denied, stonewalled. What else can i say . Maybe it sounded extreme. Members should be able to get information that they are entitled to. He has not received that information. That is a very critical thing. What i want to do in the short time that i have left by the way, i would ask consent is senator coach could be acknowledged for five minutes. Object the problem i had was not really with the information. I did not request any additional information. Many members did on the republican side did and did not receive the information they asked for. That was the case with senator cruz. I had a different reason. I think highly of senator hagel. He was in the vietnam war and was a hero. What is his philosophy . He was one of two that voted against sanctions for iran. He voted against an effort to make Iran Revolutionary guard he was one of only four that refused to sign a letter of solidarity with israel. He looks at the days of having a nuke free world. That sounded good back in the days of the cold war. Back then we had two superpowers. We knew what they had. That does not mean anything to the man in the middle east. We understand that good global zero sounds good but you have to realize you have countries like iran who even our nonclassified intelligence say will have the capability and the Delivery System by 2015. This is something that is not like it used to be. Im concerned that. I was shocked. I have to thank the chairman of the committee. The years i served on the Armed Services committee, i have never seen a come before, but he allowed a member of the committee to use a video i have never seen a gun before, but he allowed a member of the committee to use a video. It had an al jazeera interview where he agreed with their position he being senator hagel. It has committed war crimes against israel. The worldsiss bully. That is still very much a concern of mine. On the next washington journal a case being argued before the supreme or. Our guests of the Supreme Court. Man and guess are ari bern hans von spakovsky. Later, keep laying of the hill. Keith laing from the hill washington journal is like starting at 7 a. M. On wednesday on cspan. Wednesday, ben bernanke will be delivering his semiannual Monetary Policy report before a House Financial Services committee. We will be live with the second day on capitol hill starting at 10 a. M. Eastern on cspan 3. You have to understand that all of the founders primary concern was with National Security. What would they say, for example, about a company such as locking . Lockkey . They would have grudgingly favored a bailout because it supplied the United States at the time with its top fighter jets and top recon airplanes. You could make an argument that they would have supported the bailout of chrysler back in the 1980s but not the bailout of chrysler today. What is the difference . Chrysler back then made tanks. In fact, they were our only tank manufacturer. When chrysler comes out of debt and repays a government loan and comes back to health, they sold off the Tank Division and piling that money back into the company. Author and Professor Larry schweikart will take your phone calls, and emails, and tweets. Life on sunday at noon on book tv on cspan 2. House Republican Leaders said the president and Senate Democrats responsibility for avoiding the budget cuts. House Speaker John Boehner says it is time the senate gets off their asked and pass a bill. Off their ass and pass a b ill. This briefing is 10