Thank you for his service to you and country. Lord, were also grateful for all of our military men and women who back their words with courageous deeds. In this season that brings tidings of a coming dawn, guide our lawmakers through the darkness that precedes the breaking of day. You have guided this nation through stormy places, and we have felt the winds and have been tossed by troubled seas. May our senators, amid the tumult, hear the whisper of your promise to never forsake us. Remind us of lifes brevity so that we will number our days and have hearts of wisdom. We pray in your marvelous name. Amen. The presiding officer please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The presiding officer the clerk will read a communication to the senate. The clerk washington d. C. , december 15, 2014. To the senate under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable joe donnelly, a senator from the state of indiana o to perform the duties of the chair. Signed patrick j. Leahy, president pro tempore. Mr. Reid mr. President . The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Reid for those watching the owe opening of the senate, im sure some of you are wondering why the chaplain was dressed in a navy dress uniform. He is an admiral in the United States navy. He has spent many years traveling the world. We are so fortunate to have this good man here. Its always difficult to know what to call him doctor, chaplain, mister, admiral, and on and on, but what i call him is just a fine man, a real gentleman. So for those of you watching, he has a uniform on because he is an admiral in the United States navy. Following my remarks, mr. President , the senate will proceed to executive session to debate the murthy, santos, rose, saldana and blinken nominations. Im not going to give any extensive im not going to speak extensively on any of these. Im going to just say now tony blinken i have known for many years. He was integral to the success of joe bidden as a joe biden as a United States senator. He has been with him as vice president. Now he is going to be second in command at the state department. When we have our briefings in the classified room, there is no one more articulate and can answer the questions any better than tony blinken. I have great admiration for him. I think we as a country are so fortunate he is going to be in the position hes in. At 5 30 today, there will be four roll call votes. Those votes will be as follows cloture on murthy to be Surgeon General of the United States, confirmation of murthy nomination, cloture on the santos nomination to be a member of the Defense Nuclear facility safety board, and cloture on executive calendar number 635, frank rose being assistant secretary of state. Mr. President , this man has been waiting 513 days. 513 days. An extremely important job. Verification of plants nuclear. I dont think the republicans dislike him. They dont like the job he is going to have. They have left it basically empty for all this time. So we have some important stuff to do. We can complete everything we wanted to today, today. Everything is scheduled now for moving forward, we could finish it today. So i hope that everyone understands we can move forward and we but were going to have to be here until we finish our work, whether thats tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday or saturday. So everyone should understand you cant be leaving. I know we all have things to do. I havent home, mr. President , in such a long time. And i want to go home. I bought a new home there, as everyone knows. I sold my place in searchlight. I have a home in the greater las vegas area. Id like to be able to see the home. I have not slept in it. We bought it in may. I have not been there. My wife is there getting it ready for the movein which is now taking place. So we have a lot of work to do. We have to Work Together to get it done as quickly as possible. Mr. President , alaskas a state unlike any other state in the country. Often referred to as the last frontier. Alaskas landscape is as breathtaking and beautiful as it is immense. Its residents are some of the most kind and accepting people one would ever meet. Any person who represents the state of alaska must possess a true love for the exceptionally exceptional beauty of this region and the vastness of it, mr. President. It is so far away from everything. The capital juneau, you can only get there in an airplane. Thats the only way you can get there, capital state alaska. So im going to spend a little bit of time today talking about senator mark begich for his faithful service to the people of alaska. There is no surprise that he is dedicated to alaska and the people of alaska. His father congressman nick begich was dedicated to alaska, as has been his mom peggy. They moved to then the territory of alaska in 1957 to teach school. Congressman begich became involved in alaskan politics and successfully ran for a seat in the United States house of representatives. Tragedy struck. The whip of the house, hale boggs, and he were in alaska campaigning, and they were flying to an event, the plane disappeared. They have searched, they have searched, they have searched. After two months, congressman boggs, congressman begich and the pilot were declared dead. Their plane and bodies to this day have not been found. They were heading someplace in the vastness of alaska, in one of the mountains, in one of the many bodies of water, we dont know. But in spite of this heart breaking loss, the begich family has pushed on. His mother continued to raise six children aloan while managing Real Estate Properties and being active in local politics. By the age of 17, mark had already acquired his mothers business acumen, starting his first business, a jewelry venture and also owning and managing real estate. One reason senator begich has been a good United States senator is because of his innate business acumen. At age 26, he was elected to the Anchorage Assembly which is the city council, a position which he held for ten years. Then in 2003, he was elected mayor of anchorage. He served two terms before running for the senate. 2008 was a really dark time for alaskan politics, but marks Senate Victory brought a fresh face and new hope to the state. From the time he stepped foot on the senate floor, he has not let the people of alaska down. He has fought to expand economic opportunity, defend the right of alaska natives and fortify rural alaska. Senator begichs efforts to reform the alaskan Veterans Health care system was exemplary, Exemplary Service and its a blueprint for a bipartisan solution that the senate reached this year to reform the department of veterans affairs. Senator begich has made tremendous contributions to the senate over the past six years. I know that he will continue to fight for whats best for alaska as he transitions into the next stage of his life. I hope its Public Service somewhere in marks future. Every state needs a man of his quality. He will always have his wife deborah and his son jacob by his side. I can remember the first time i saw jacob was right behind us by the ohio clock. President obama walked by and that little boy yelled obama so he loves politics, the little boy does. Its really been an honor to serve with senator begich. Im glad that he has been part of our Leadership Team as head of the steering committee. He has done a really remarkable good job. I thank him again for his service to the committee and certainly to our country. Mr. President , i would ask that there be a separation in the record. I would ask that there be a separation in the record for the next statement i make. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Reid the famous english poet William Blake said quote great things are done when men and mountains meet. There could go nothing more apt when talking about mark udall than when you talk about men and mountains. He knows mountains. He has climbed nine himalayan peaks. He has climbed mount mckinley. He has climbed 99 of the highest summits in colorado. Thats the place where you have the great rockies. Those are big mountains. He once attempted to scale Mount Everest but was stopped by a see see severe storm. Some of us while we were waiting told me they were hoping to go skiing on sunday. I said where are you going to go skiing . They told me the place. How high is that place . They said 800 feet. Mr. President , in the Sierra Nevada mountains where i am fro fro from and the rockies, thats not a mountain. We have mountains in colorado and nevada. Mark udall once attempted to scale Mount Everest and was nearly there when one of the most violent storms came, and he and the others, using good sense, decided that they shouldnt do it, and it was the right thing to do. People die by saying they are stronger than nature. He understands his limitations, and his limitations are not very much. Mark is a tremendous athlete. He could do anything athletically. He had the genes of his dad, morris udall, who i had the good fortune of serving with in the house of representatives. Morris udall is the only person to have played professional basketball being blind in one eye, couldnt see, but he was able to adjust his perceptive qualities with a basketball hoop to play professional hbl. Professional basketball. We all felt marks loss when his brother randy was found dead. He was found dead in the place that he loved more than anyplace else, the wind River Mountains in wyoming. Thats where randy loved to go, mark loves to go. People told randy he shouldnt go alone, but he went alone. It appears maybe he had a heart attack while he was out there, but they found him several weeks later in the mountains that he loved, dead. It was real tough for mark who looked up so much to his brother. Mark, though, has met many mountains and many great things. Served in the house of representatives where he was stellar, but its the work here in the senate where his greatest feats have been accomplished. In 2013, he had those violent storms in colorado. There was catastrophic flooding. It was really, really bad. Lives were lost, homes washed away. The people of colorado needed help, and mark would not stop. He held up legislation here until the people of colorado got what they deserved. He helped secure nearly a billion dollar in federal assistance for the people of the state. Thats money to rebuild homes, bridges, roads and reestablish lives. While he dedicateed himself to the people of colorado, he also was committed to safeguarding the Constitutional Rights of all americans. Who has done more in exposing what has been going on with invasion of peoples privacy. No one has done more than mark. Hes done this in a number of different ways, but as a member of the intelligence committee, his work sounded the alarm of the National Security administration bulk Data Collection program. He fought in the c. I. A. s detention and interrogation program. Together senator feinstein has pushed to make Public Committee study of the c. I. A. s torture program. Perhaps people have said if mark hadnt been so concerned about individual riots about the bulk Data Collection, about the torture, maybe he would have been elected, reelected, but thats not mark udall. He comes from a family with a long tradition of Public Service as ive indicate evidence. His uncle stewart was secretary of the interior after serving in congress for many years as was mo udall. Mo udall is one of the most recognizable politicians in the 20th century, having run for president and he had a sense of humor that was quite remarkable. Mark has cousins here in the senate, its been interesting, the last few years weve had a lot of cousins. Mark, tom, mike lee, gordon smith. All cousins, first cousins. How did that come about . Mark would look at, as he did just a day or two ago, look at kind of smile and say it could have been polygamy and it was but theyre a very, very close family. A very close family. In spite of the closeness of tom and mark, which is two brothers couldnt be closer than that these two men. They climb mountains together, ive talked to them about putting on crampons, the spikes you put on your shoes in the ice. I mean these are adventurers. So were going to miss mark. But hes forged his own path and his own legacy and now as his time in the senate draws to a close hell carry that legacy to other endeavors. I wish mark all the best. Hes been such its been such a privilege to serve with him. Hell be deeply missed. I now move, mr. President , to proceed to calendar number 627 which h. R. 5771. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk calendar number 627, h. R. 5771, an act to amend the Internal Revenue code of 1986 to extend certain expiring provisions and make technical corrections to amend the Internal Revenue code of 1986 to provide for tax treatment of able accounts established under state programs for the care of family members with disabilities and for other purposes. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations which the clerk will report. The clerk Public Health service, vivek murthy of massachusetts to be medical director and to be Surgeon General. Defense Nuclear Facilities safety board, jesse Hill Robertson of alabama to be a member. Department of state, frank a. Rose of massachusetts to be an assistant secretary. Department of homeland security, sarah r. Saldana of texas to be an assistant secretary. Department of state, Antony Blinken of new york to be deputy secretary. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. In 1986, the people of south dakota elected me to serve them in the 100 session of the United States congress quorum call a senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from wyoming. Mr. Barrasso mr. President , i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be vitiated. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Barrasso thank you, mr. President. Mr. President , i rise today to oppose the nomination of dr. Dr. Vivek murthy to be Surgeon General of the United States. Surgeon general is known as americas doctor. Americans have Great Respect for this important position. They expect their Surgeon General to be someone who has substantial experience in helping patients, helping them improve their health and in helping them reduce their risk of illness and injury. This important position has been vacant since july of 2013, so about a year and a half. Its far too long, and its been completely avoidable. Now, we have seen how the Obama Administration has struggled in response to Important Health issues like the ebola crisis. America should have had an experienced doctor in the job as Surgeon General to lead our fight against ebola. And to take on other Serious Health challenges as well. Dr. Murthy is a smart man, very well educated, has an undergraduate degree from harvard, an m. B. A. From yale, an m. D. From yale school of medicine. These are impressive academic credentials and im sure he will be a fine doctor. They are not sufficient qualifications for this important job. Is dr. Murthy a renowned expert in treating patients orreaching diseases . No, not at all. Hes not. Has he actually built a career teaching medicine or leading Public Health organizations . No, not yet. In fact, dr. Murthy only completed his medical training, his residency, in 2006, just eight years ago. Now, i speak as someone who has actually practiced medicine for 25 years, who has been an instructor of surgery at Yale Medical School that dr. Murthy attended. And i saw that being a doctor is about much more than going to school. Doctors learn more and more as they progress through their careers, and they spend more time with their patients,if listening to patients and the patients families. Dr. Murthy has just not had the time to develop these kinds of skills. So what qualifies him to be Surgeon General of the United States . Well, in 2008, just two years out of his residency, he founded a group called doctors for obama. The purpose . To elect a president. The majority of his career has been spent not as a doctor treating patients but as an activist, an activist focused on gun control and political campaigns. Even former senator im sorry, even former Surgeon GeneralRichard Carmona has said that dr. Murthy doesnt have the medical experience to serve in such an important position. Let me point out, dr. Carmona is a democrat. He wrote an article for the Huffington Post on december 4. It was titled in search of a Surgeon General. I want to read a little bit about what he wrote. He says we dont appoint doctors e