at work or struggle just to make ends meet with less than the state's current minimum standard twelve counties in montana have nine percent or more of their workforce making less than the current state's minimum wage standard it makes it virtually impossible for those folks to try to attain the middle class raising the minimum wage is the first step to empowering the middle class to make the middle class all it can be and we've talked about it for the last seven six seven days in here we've heard about how important is to raise the minimum wage but let me tell you folks if we're going to make this country all it can be we need to show some attention to the middle class in this raising of the minimum wage make no mistake about it is a first step to empowering the middle class and making it vibrant once again there's many more things that can be done and i hope will be done is this hundred  congress goes forward but we're doing the right thing here the fact is people deserve a fair wage for the work that they do currently at five fifteen per hour it translates into less than eleven thousand dollars per year you can't pay the bills with that kind of income i can tell you that is i drove around the state of montana over the last year and a half one of the fellows that made one of the biggest impressions on me was at a truck stop when he asked me what i was going to do for average workers in the state of montana i said what do you have in mind he said currently i work three jobs and i still have a difficulty making ends meet what kind of quality alive can a person have working three jobs struggling every day just to pay for basic bills like heating lights insurance the fact is that around this country many states have passed minimum wage bills that have increased the minimum wage unfortunately the leadership has not come from washington d c on this has come from the states and i think it's high time that this congress and it's unfortunate hasn't happened before but it's high time and it's welcome that this congress will step up to the plate to increase the minimum wage from five fifteen to seven twenty five an hour it's the right thing to do and it's a good first step and i applaud and i will be applauding the senators if we in fact get this job done which i think is entirely appropriate to increase the minimum wage in my state of montana we are one of six states that passed initiatives last november raising the state minimum wage to a wage higher than the federal standard it passed with seventy three percent of montana's voters favoring this minimum wage increase it is now at six fifteen an hour indexed for inflation with no tip credit meal credit or training wage this means employers may not count tips or benefits as part of the employee wage for minimum wage purposes this is a significant step forward for our workforce and i would hope that the federal government will follow suit with passing this bill to make the economic struggles of almost fifteen million americas americans including seven point three million children a little easier raising the minimum wage is long overdue it's about time and it's about time that we show the appreciation of america's workforce thank you very much madam president support we've had the chance he's been on the floor a good deal of time during the course of this debate and having been elected just elected now brings to the senate that kind of fresh perspective about  people are thinking about out in the in the heartland of the nation and so his comments bring additional kind of strength to the argument in support of the increase and i i want to express my we've got a lot of hardworking folks that work for every penny they get and and quite frankly sometimes they feel pretty unappreciated it wasn't many years ago we talked about american made products and how proud we were of them and how proud we were of the workers that made those american made products we need to get back on that road once again and and i would say as i said a few minutes earlier this is long overdue and it's something that i wish the federal government would have taken the lead on but better late than never madam president the gentleman senator from georgia and a president i have an amendment number one eighteen that is under consideration after consultation with center for massachusetts i think at this time going to withdraw that amendment but as i withdraw it i want to say that as we move into the immigration debate which we will do on the floor of the senate hopefully sooner rather than later this amendment will come up again  the importance of this amendment cannot be understated to farmers and ranchers all across america who use a legal workforce versus an illegal workforce and between now and the time that this  debate comes up on immigration i'm afraid that i'm not moving ahead with the adoption of this amendment we're going to encourage farmers and ranchers towards the use of illegal immigrants but the fact of the matter is that we've been debating this minimum wage bill now for two weeks or more it is time to conclude this amendment is has stirred up some controversy for the right reasons because we do need to talk about the amount of money that through our work force and the agriculture sector but i do appreciate center from massachusetts and his conversations and his commitment to me that is we move in the immigration debate that we will talk about this once again as we did last year so madam president this time our withdrawal that amendment that would ask unanimous consent to do so is that drawn center for grateful for the fact that he has got to withdraw at this moment at this time i'm very hopeful that we're going to get to the immigration issue in a timely way we have it as a high priority the in our side to address this where we are very hopeful that where going to get to this in you know in march this year and we'll have an opportunity both in the in the committee and on the floor to come to grips with this with the substance of this issue i just say finally we had a the adverse wage goes back some forty three or four years and it goes back to a time when it was implemented and we were had what they call the percent growth program there which was a darker side of exploitation dark side of exploitation of workers from from from mexico and we we it's been you know in effect but the senators asking now that we get another look at this issue i know the center from california will speak on the substance of because we're talking about workers that are going to come from overseas to send has spoken about it i know he feels strongly about it and we'll know where we're going to we're going to consider it and  the in the course of that discussion and debate but i appreciate the fact that he's not pressing it out on this minimum wage bill and i thank you for it and we'll look forward to trying to find a solution to it over the future this president has been president the senator from california thank you very much madam president i've listened carefully to the senator from massachusetts and i very much agree with his remarks i also want to thank the senator from georgia from with for withdrawing this amendment this amendment muddies churning waters even more and i think it would be very difficult if put up at this time the way really to go about this is through something called the egg jobs bill and i see the senator from idaho on the floor the senator from idaho from massachusetts myself have all played a role in this egg jobs bill if i understand what the senator from georgia was trying to do it was a substantial change to the h two a program which is the temporary agricultural worker program that's a visa program codified under section two eighteen of the immigration and naturalization act under current law employers of two a guest workers must pay the state minimum wage the federal minimum wage the state's adverse effect wage rate which is the market rate or the local prevailing wage which ever is high the chambliss amendment would require that employers pay the greater of all only the federal minimum wage or the newly defined prevailing wage now my staff called both departments mentioned on line six of page two of his amendment that is the occupational employment statistics program at the bureau of labor statistics neither of whom had a prevailing rate that they could certify so this amendment if for do if if if promulgated would have presented serious problems for our agricultural workers and for example in my home state where the adverse effect wage rate is nine dollars the rate is higher than the federal minimum and because we don't know what the prevailing wage would mean in the it would most likely result in a major cut of wages for agricultural workers now what we have done an ag job is the gov freeze for three years in the adverse wage rate so that this so that order could take place and this could be worked out over a period of time i think to do this as an amendment without negotiation without real hearing is a tremendous mistake so i am very pleased that the senator chose to withdraw his amendment and would have spoken as strongly as i possibly could again had he not withdrawn it i thank the chair i yield the floor impression the senator from idaho when i'm president let me join with my colleagues on this issue in thanking the senator from georgia for withdrawing the amendment it is possible to say that the concept of adverse wage an anomaly unto itself specific to the h two a program that is not to suggest that it's right is to suggest that it was there and it ratcheted up on an automatic basis to establish  the wage for each to a workers in the guest worker program the senator from california is right as we began to negotiate and create what is now known as ag jobs that she and i reintroduced earlier this year in that was back from the average wage and holding of the line for a period of time to level out what the senator from georgia is attempting to do is a new wage rate and i think the center of in california is right we're not sure where it would go or what it would mean i'm going to stand here and say that isn't to suggest that a new wage rate isn't the right way to go to establish equity between h two a and non h two a workers that are doing the same job in the field or somewhere else in agriculture but there ought to be a consistency and if we're going to bring large groups of guest workers in and we will we always have there are certain types of work that only they will do then i think we have to be sensitive to the uniqueness of that situation but at the same time it is important we're sensitive to all of the other requirements we put up on the employer as a part of the total employment package is that housing certain other conditions along with  wage that they necessarily would not have to pay to a domestic worker who was doing comparable wage but was outside the h two a program so there is a disparity today that's why we backed it off in the a workers by their definition were becoming non competitive of course in the environment we were working in they were becoming noncompetitive to the illegal who was in the market and so you had disparity across the board i don't dispute what the senator from georgia is attempting to do but i will tell you that visited was some labor attorneys who found it very problematic and if you're going to do this then we ought to work collectively together review it appropriate apply it against a variety of work forces to see that it is uniform and just for all employees and employers who may because of their uniqueness provide certain conditions  worker that otherwise would not be necessary to provide i used to be an agriculture we paid a certain wage we also provided a house and we provided fuel for the rig and we also provided certain grocery and food supplies and that was all viewed as a factor of all employment with the employer so i mean there are a variety of things that we've got to get correct the standard california says it would have muddied the water a great deal i think it would have frustrated it it would have taken out part of the force that is valuable that we keep together as we tried to reform the h two a program to deal with the problem we currently have t here and stabilize a legal transparent workforce for american agriculture prepare a nationals right to come here legally for the purpose of that kind of employment i don't know that this would have accomplished withdrawing coming together with us trying to resolve this problem i think offers us an opportunity to get our work done on this portion of immigration reform this year and i hope and i know the senator from california agrees and i hope we can accomplish that by the end of the year if i'm a man president and are from california i'd like to make a statement and then ask the senator from idaho a question this morning i was visited by a delegation from to larry county which is an agricultural county in the central valley of california and these were city and county officials who pointed out the enormous loss from the frost and the fact that it looks like the citrus loss is going to be between nine hundred million and a billion dollars and nobody knows the tree loss yet let alone the avocado loss or the row crop loss of strawberries and lettuce and other things like that but this is also have an impact on the of bill it easy to find agricultural labor and i think you agree and i know i agree that we must pass the jobs bill ninety percent of agricultural labor in this country the picker part of it not necessarily the processing part of it in the processing canning part but the picking part the fieldwork ninety percent is by on documented people and what we have tried to do is evolve a plan which actually passed the senate once before as part of the comprehensive immigration bill called  this also reform the h two a program we have been trying to get that bill up before this house for a vote because what's going to happen is this next year is going to be a singularly difficult year for agriculture and with the an inability to get a consistent workforce farmers don't know if they comply if they don't know if they can prove they don't know if they can pick because they don't know if they'll have enough labor my question to the senator from idaho is do you agree with the statement i have just made through the chair i agree totally and i agree for all the reasons a standard in california just put forward and a couple of but one of the things the congress is committed to and both are on the floor at this moment voted for it is to secure our southwest border we're investing heavily in that at this moment and we should be there really is no question about doing that we may argue about how many miles of fence but we all recognize an unsecured border is a very problematic thing it's closing it's becoming secure and we're going to continue to invest in and the greater agriculture area of california i spoke with young farmers and ranchers of the idaho farm bureau this week we've lost hundreds of millions nowhere near what you have lost we have a different kind of agriculture the intensity of our labor of ours is simply great but there is a real problem and that problem not at present is quite simple if we don't get this correct we may well be looking at  billion dollars worth of agricultural loss this year and half of that or more will come from california alone let alone all the other areas and i maybe even conservative in my guestimate reality so you're absolutely right now are coupled with the natural and weather disasters that have and could hit my stated sometime in the future that's typical of agriculture the but the one thing that we provide a stable secure work that is legal then we've helped our agriculture a great deal know that when they do produce a crop they have the people there to help them get it out of the field get it to the processor and ultimately to the retail shelves of america i thank the senator from idaho other body get that bill up and get it passed senator craig and i have become have been coming to the floor from time to time to plead to give us time i believe the majority leader will give us time i'm  certain as to when but i believe it is going to happen my hope is that it happens sooner rather than later because the predictability is so important here we are at the end of january we're going into february people are getting their loans the plan and that kind of thing and they need to know that they can deliver a crop they need to know that they can get the workforce to deliver that crop so this is really a huge issue economically for america and for the agricultural industry so i just want to say to the senator from idaho the senator from massachusetts thank you so much for your work on this issue i think and wish that the senator from georgia would be with us on a job because i really believe it is the right way to go and i believe his state georgia will also be benefited by the h two a reforms in the bill for california the h two a reforms mean that this program which hasn't been used by agriculture because it was so cumbersome will now be used by agriculture i effect is the guest worker program so passing ag jobs secures a legal guest worker program for agriculture and also a path to legalization for those who have engage agricultural laborer who will pay a fine who pay their taxes who will commit to work in agricultural labor for another three years thereby providing that consistent workforce so i very much hope that the day will not be far distant senator when you and i will be on the floor and will hopefully be able to mount a substantial vote for this important bill i thank the chair i  may mr president unanimous consent that it for ten p m the senate proceed to executive session to kid sitter on block executive calendar nominations six and seven but their very ten minutes for debate equally divided between senators leahy and specter or their designations and that upon the use or yielding back of the time the senate proceed to vote on the nomination of lisa god the would to be united states district judge to be followed immediately by a vote on the nomination of philip s gutierrez to be a united states district judge and that motions to reconsider be laid on the table the president be immediately notified of the action and the senate then return to legislative business that all time consumed in executive session count path cloture excuse me post cloture pass closer post clo and i wonder why i am on my feet if i might say a word or objection without objection so ordered thank you madam president madam president one of these judges  gutierrez is for the central district of california of vice judge terry hatter who at one point was the chief judge a very good chief judge who is retired mr gutierrez is one of two judicial emergencies we need to fill he his nomination went through the special commission that we have which is lichens and democrats that screen these traditional nominations he have served on the los angeles county superior court he was also hopefully also served on the municipal court he's a los angeles native   first of all i want to thank the chairman committee senator leahy for all the commitments that he made last year as right member and that he has followed through on this year as chairman to bring this judge's confirmation to the full senate for a vote senator leahy has been a gentleman he has been diligent he's lived up to every responsibility he accepted and i personally along with senator chambliss are very grateful for the opportunity to confirm this outstanding jurist i also want to say lisa god he would brings to the bench for the federal courts the united states of america the integrity of an elector the sense and the judgment that all of us see going to find judge in this cantwell mr carden mr carper mr casey mr chambliss mrs clinton mr coburn mr cochran mr coleman ms collins mr conrad mr corker mr cornyn mr mr sanders mr schumer mr sessions mister i'll be mr smith ms snow voted in the negative kerry mr kerry  coleman mr coleman  mr casey mr casey mr nelson of nebraska mr nelson of nebraska  mr mccain mr mccain on mr sessions mr sessions mr lugar mr lugar mrs clinton mrs clinton stabenow now  this is the this is mrs boxer mrs boxer  are there any centers in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote if not on this vote the ayes are ninety seven the nays are zero and the nomination is confirmed will be in order there will now be two minutes of debate equally divided on a good year as nomination senate will be in order thomas mr to mr better coleman collins conrad corker corn can't well  are there any senators wishing to vote any senators and the gal in the chamber wishing to change their vote if not the eyes are ninety seven the nays are zero and the nomination is confirmed under the previous ord the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action and its senate will return to legislative session senate just passed two judicial nominations and will now return to work on the minimum wage the senate voted today to limit debate and amendments to a proposal adding business tax incentives to the bill raising the minimum wage and the measure includes more than eight billion dollars in tax breaks and other incentives designed to offset the two dollars ten cent hourly minimum wage increase senate still has to vote on the planet self and then could have another vote to limit debate on the overall minimum wage package after it's changed democratic leaders in the house and senate have agreed on a four hundred and sixty five billion dollars federal spending bill that was filed last night in the house and will be debated there tomorrow the senate is expected to take it up next week most federal agencies have been operating with temporary funding which runs out february fifteenth the bill to be considered tomorrow in the house let's spending continue for those agencies through the end of the budget year house democrats want to pass the measure on wednesday before they head to a party retreat for the major of the week and again the senate is expected to take up that here next week this is live coverage of the senate on cspan to