mr. mcconnell: now mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number number 69 and 70 s. 179 and s. 994, en bloc. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will are proceed to the measures en bloc. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the bills be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and that any statements relating to the bills appear at this point in the record all en bloc. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to consideration of calendar number 74 h.r. 651. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 71, h.r. 651 an act to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 820 '

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to h.r. 2048. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 87, h.r. 2048, an act to reform the authorities of the federal government to require the production of certain business records and so forth and for other purposes. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk for the motion to proceed. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: cloture motion. we the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to proceed to h.r. 2048, an act to reform the authorities of the federal government to require the production of certain business records and so forth and for other purposes. signed by 17 senators as follow. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the reading of the names be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i withdraw the mont

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: what is the pending business before the senate? the presiding officer: pending business is h.r. 1191 which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 30, h.r. 1191, an act to amend the internal revenue code of 1986, and so forth and for other purposes. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the corker amendment number 1140 to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the corker amendment number 1140, to h.r. 1191, an act to aimed the internal revenue code of 1986. signed by 1 senators as follows: mr. mcconnell: i ask that the reading of the names be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: mr. president you send a cloture motion to the h.r. 1119 to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: cloture motio

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i think we're all aware that chairman hatch and senator wyden have been working in good faith over the last several days to set out both debate and votes on amendments from both sides of the aisle. we've had some success. the bill managers have been working together on the votes that we've had and so far we have worked to get an additional seven amendments pending. but sadly there's an objection from the other side of the aisle on getting additional amendments pending, regardless of which party offers the amendment. senator hatch and his colleague have been down here for days trying to get amendments offered, and obviously it's possible in the senate to be prevent others from getting amendments and now we've got the whole process stymied because we can't seem to get agreements for any additional amendments. i think we all know this is a body that requires at least some level of cooperation and that just hasn't been here on this bipartisan bill. so i want to point out while

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: mr. president it's good to see the senate will soon be passing another important piece of bipartisan legislation. the iran nuclear agreement review act offers the best chance for our constituents through the congress they elect to weigh in on the white house negotiations with iran. and make no mistake they need to have that opportunity. the american people were led to believe that these negotiations would be about ending iran's nuclear program and and its enrichment capability. but the current interim agreement makes one thing very clear -- these talks have devolved into something else altogether. instead of ending iran's nuclear program, the interim agreement would actually bestow international blessing for iran to continue it. rather than meaningfully roll back tehran's enrichment capabi

mr. mcconnell: mr. president i enter a motion to reconsider the vote. the presiding officer: the motion is entered. mr. mcconnell: mr. president i move to proceed to h.r. 1314. the presiding officer: morning business is closed. the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: motion to proceed to the consideration of h.r. 1314 an act to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 and so forth. mr. mcconnell: mr. president i ask consent that senators be permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. mcconnell: mr. president the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. mcconnell: well, mr. president, what we just saw here is pretty shocking. there are always limits to what can be accomplished when the american people choose divided government. but of course it doesn't mean washington shouldn't work toward bipartisan solutions that make sense for our country. trade off is a perfect opportunity to do

mr. mcconnell: now mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. tuesday, may 5. follow be the prayer and pledgets, the morning hour be deemed expired the journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. following leader remarks the senate resume consideration of the veto message to accompany s.j. res. 8. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: senators should expect a vote on the motion to proceed to the budget conference report at approximately 10:15 tomorrow morning. if there's no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. provider to the end-user which is the customer. but they may have to pay fees. that was unheard-of. >> tonight at 8:00 o'clock eastern on the communicators on c-span2. tomorrow on washington jour

mr. reid: will my friend yield for a question? mr. mcconnell: i yield for a question. mr. reid: we would be happy to cooperate in passing that -- the surface transportation bill by voice. but i do say this, and i mentioned this to you off the -- away from the microphones. for those of us living in the west we can't get back here until sunday afternoon. i think it's very difficult for us to get back here on a weekday before 5:00. so i would hope on a sunday we wouldn't be expected the senate to come in session before 5:00 because we can't get here. and i -- protecting the western part of my caucus, which is pretty big i'm not going to agree to thinking unless we can come in at least after 5:00. mr. mcconnell: well, as my friend the majority leader knows, i'd be happy to work with him on that and he also knows i tried to get a short-term extension of a variety of different lengths in order not to put us in this position. but we're left with this option only. and we'll work with the democratic leader about the actual time but the law expires at midnight sunday a week. and i d

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the agriculture committee be discharged from further consideration and the senate now proceed to s. con. res. 10. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate concurrent resolution 10, supporting the designation of the year of 2015 as the international year of soils and supporting locally led soil conservation. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the lee amendment at the desk be agreed to, that the resolution as amended be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid on the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: mr. president i ask unanimou

mr. mcconnell: so, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn until 3:00 p.m. montana tai, may 11. following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. following leader remarks the senate be in a pored of morning business with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: so, mr. president, senators should expect a vote in relation to s. con. res. 16 at 5:30 p.m. on monday. if there's no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of senators cotton and carper. the presiding officer: without objection. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. cotton: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arkansas. mr. cotton: i ask unanimous c

mcconnell you have five minutes remaining. >> thank you mr. chief justice. so, several things have been cleared up. the government now does concede that the government takes legal title to the raisins. the government does -- >> all the time to the extent that we've eschewed taking total titles meaningful with respect to actual control or actual benefit. we trustees take title and but it's not for their benefit. it's for the benefit of their beneficiary. >> that's true justice sotomayor. but the taking of the -- the government is not a trustee here. and -- >> but in a form, yes. it's still good to sell the reserve raisins at the best price it can get given the limitations on the free market. >> it sells for the best price and uses the proceeds for its regulatory -- >> you only have four minutes. do you have other factual points? >> as to the factual point, calculations are not based upon us selling all of the raisins at the field price. our calculations are isbased upon being able to sell all of the raisins that the secretary has said would be the price in an

quorum call: quorum call: mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: this week we welcomed thousands of law enforcement officers for national police week 2015. it's a time to pay tribute to all the men and women who serve in federal state and local law enforcement all across america. and it's a good time for those of us who benefit from the shield of protection that they provide and actually that's all of us, a time for us to express our gratitude. police officers are here to rededicate themselves to the pursuit of justice and to honor fallen officers. we're proud to have them all here in washington. i want to especially recognize the many men and women who protect and serve as peace officers in kentucky. today i had the pleasure of meeting with some of kentucky's finefinest. i want to personally thank them for courageously risking their lives in service to pe

mr. mcconnell? >> mr. chief justice may it please the court, thank you for being willing to hear this little case a second time. it does involve some important principles and the livelihoods of marvin and laura horne and more indirectly hundreds of small california raisin growers will be profoundly affected. this is an administrative enforcement proceeding that was brought by the department of agriculture against my clients commanding the relinquishment of funds connected to specific pieces of property namely reserve raisins. my clients appear in their capacity as handlers, but under their -- in the particular facts of this case, the economic circumstances are somewhat different than are ordinarily true in this industry because as handlers, the horns actually assumed the full financial responsibility for the raisins that were not turned over to the department of agriculture. the producers in this case were fully paid for their raisins. this is a factual finding, to be found in the judicial officer's opinio

with that, mr. president i yield back. [applause] mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: let me just say to our new colleague from oklahoma what an insightful assessment of the challenges facing our country and an extraordinary list of solutions to those challenges, not to mention reminding us all that we are the envy of the world. so i congratulate our new deeing colleague-- our new colleague from oklahoma wish him well, and thank him for his fine remarks. mr. isakson: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. isakson: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order the time from 11:30 until 12:50 will be equally divided with the majority controlling the first half and the democrats cont

and the second option is the option which mr. mcconnell is putting forward which is to reenact the patriot act for two months, part of it it's not the entire part that will go away on june 1st -- >> but it's the part with regard to bulk metadata collection. the usa freedom act, does it adequately address the concerns of civil rights advocates that say some of these programs that the nsa is doing impinge on privacy. >> i don't think the privacy community would say they are entirely satisfied. and the other thing to remember too, is we're talking about section 215, which was the provision that was used to gather every american's telephone record over a period of seven years with no evidence that it has been used to build any cases, so that's the main thing that people are arguing about today, but that's only a very small piece of the intelligence communities activities, and i think a lot of people are concerned, including people like senator paul and widen, that actually usa freedom doesn't go far enough and that there are all of t

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: today we'll continue our work on the trade legislation which is before us. i know senators on both sides are eager to offer amendments. yesterday was a good start. we voted on a few amendments. we got a half a dozen more pending, but we need to keep the ball moving. so let me again encourage members of both parties to offer those amendments that you may have. let me again encourage members to work with the bill managers to get the amendments moving. we want to process as many amendments as we can that we know we already lost a week to needless filibustering and delaying of this bill, which means one less week to have amendments considered. so we need cooperation from the leadership across the aisle to ensure we don't lose any more time. our friends on the other side seem quite eager to let everyone know how uninterested they are in obstruction these days, but you'll not find a happier guy than me if that turns out to be true. so we'll see if they demonstrate the spirit of c

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader of the senate. mr. mcconnell: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not, sir. mr. mcconnell: i took a trip up to boston this weekend to address the kennedy institute. it was really a unique experience. i was there in a full-scale representation of the senate chamber to discuss how the real senate is beginning to get back to work. i explained how committees are working again so senators can have more of a stake in the legislative process. i explained how we're allowing more open floor debate, more amendment opportunities so senators can better represent the voices of their constituents. and i explained how we're getting the fundamentals back on track like passing a budget. that doesn't mean we've ironed out all the senate's challenges, but it does mean a new era of good feelings beckons just around the corner. and it doesn't mean an exertion of will won't be necessary every now and then, but it does mean we're beginning to open the senate back up in a way that will make shared achievemen

mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mcminimum wage a glad the senate vote. mr. mcconnell: i'm glad the senate voted yesterday to take another step forward on important trade legislation that is before us. this bill represents an opportunity for republicans and democrats to stand together for the middle class. so i hope our friends across the aisle will allow us to seize this opportunity and i'm optimistic. we all know that trade is important for american workers and american jobs. and we all know that by passing this legislation, we can show we're serious about advancing new opportunities for bigger american paybacks -- paychecks better american jobs, and a stronger american economy. now, we want to process as many amendments as we can. the republican and democratic bill managers, senator hatch and senator wyden have done a great job managing this bill in a bipartisan spirit thus far. my hope is that with some cooperation across the aisle we can vote on some amendments today and complete our work on this trade legislati

mcconnell's home state, those d be. accounts are continuing to be reduced and they should be reduced. this is a good thing. the projects that are in the sed highway trustfo fund, those really are just used for infrastructure funding. here's an area where i think your concern should be talked about moree . we do use the highway trust fund and the federal fuel tax for a number of projects that are not so specifically related simply to rai passenger vehicle activity if you will. so rails mass transit, those ppor types of transportation activities, many ofte f those are still supported through eventually the federal fuel tax and so we can raise the question should we have a different funding mechanism for rails. should we have a different funding mechanism for mass transit. that's a conversation to be had because if you back mass transit and rails out of the federal fuel tax, that $16 billion delta drops to about $2 billion. you can't leave unfunded the pr mass transit and rails so how you fund that would be a question. on

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the president pro tempore: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i'll have more to say about the business before the senate later but at this time i'd just like to express my sincere condolences to the entire biden family in their moment of such deep and profound loss. beau biden was known to many as a dedicated public servant a loving father of two and a devoted partner to the woman he loved. hallie. i've known the vice president for many years and i.t. hard to think of anything more important to him than his faith and his family. i hope he will find comfort in the former, as he grieves such a terrible loss. the senate offers its presiding officer and every member of his family our prayers and our sympathy. now, mr. president i ask unanimous consent that the time until 5:00 p.m. be equally divided in the usual form and the senate recess at 5:00 p.m. subject to the call of the chair. the president pro tempore: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president? the president pro tempore: the minority leader. mr. reid: i join in my feelings about

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: many of us awoke to terrible news this morning. we're still awaiting more information about what happened outside of philadelphia, but we know this tragedy will touch the lives of many. the senate sends its condolence to the victims those who were injured and their families and loved ones. we also reaffirm our gratitude to the nation's first responders. now, mr. president, on an entirely different matter, it was really quite something to watch president obama's party vote to filibuster his top domestic legislative priority yesterday. that's what we saw right here in the senate. it left pretty much everyone scratching their heads. the democratic leader made clear yesterday that he was not interested in debating -- quote -- the merits of the bill, end quote. in other words he told us that this filibuster is for political reasons only. it makes sense considering that this filibuster's all about apiecing a -- appeasing a facts-optional crowd on the left that hasn't been able to

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: the senate is now nearing completion of the bipartisan iran nuclear agreement review act. this is a bipartisan bill based on an important principle. if the american people, through the congress they elect deserve a say on one of the most important issues of our time, it would require that any agreement reached with iran be submitted to congress for review. it would be require that congress be given time to hold hearings and to take a vote to approve or disapprove of the agreement before congressional sanctions could be lifted. and it would give congress more power to rapidly impose sanctions if iran does cheat. many wish the bill was stronger. i don't disagree with them. but this is a piece of legislation worthy of our support. it offers the best chance we have to provide the american people and the congress they elect with power to weigh in on a vital issue. and we will pursue other opportunities to address iran's full spectrum campaign to increase its sphere of influence

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: today not only will congress pass a budget for the first time in six years, it will pass a balanced budget for the first time in recent memory. this is something many americans have been waiting a long time to see. it's something they deserve. and it's just the latest example of a new congress that's back to work, back to work on behalf of americans who work hard and expect washington to do the same. no budget will ever be perfect but this is a budget that sensibly addresses the concerns of many different members. it reflects honest compromise of many different members with many, many priorities. it includes additional resources and flexibility for national defense. it reduces spending. and it balances without raising taxes. that's especially impressive when you consider the type of budget the white house proposed, one that never balanced, ever, but still tried to raise taxes by nearly $2 trillion. that white house budget was so unserious, that only a single member of the p

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i was glad to see our democratic friends accept our path forward on trade yesterday. under our plan, the senate will avoid the poison pills that have been floated in favor of the very type of bipartisan approach we have been advocating all along. it follows the regular order. it allows senators to express themselves without endangering more american trade jobs for the people we represent. so this is good news. it's good news for bipartisanship it's good news for a new congress that's getting back to work. and it's good news for america's middle class. the people we represent deserve the kind of good jobs we could secure by knocking down unfair trade barriers. one estimate shows that trade agreements with europe and the pacific could support as many as 1.4 million additional jobs here in our country. in kentucky, they could support more than 18,000 additional jobs. but we can't get there without first passing the kind of legislation we'll vote to open debate on this afternoo

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: the house passage of the justice for victims of trafficking act represents a vital ray of hope for the countless victims of modern slavery who need our help. v.i.p.'s' groups and -- victims groups and advocates tells us this human rights legislation would provide support to domestic victims of trafficking. they urge congress to pass it. we can now say that we have passed it. we can now say that hope is on the way for the victims who suffer in the shadows. unfortunately, the victims of modern-day slavery had to wait entirely too long for help. last congress the house of representatives did its job by passing several pieces of legislation, but the senate failed to bring any trafficking legislation to the floor. as a new majority, senate republicans were determined to make this matter a priority. senator grassley promptly reported legislation out of the judiciary committee and we quickly put it on the senate floor. as we all know by now, there was an unforeseen -- to put it mi

mr. mcconnell: mr. president this morning i restated my commitment to working with senators in a serious way to move our country ahead on trade and the economy of the 21st century. i said that we need to allow debate on this important issue to begin and that our colleagues across the aisle need to stop blocking us from doing so. that's the view from our side. it's the view from the white house. and it's the view of serious people across the political spectrum. i've repeatedly stated my commitment to serious warn ways forward bipartisan ways forward on this issue. now serious and bipartisan does not mean agreeing to impossible guarantees or swallowing poison pills designed to kill the legislation but it does mean pursuing reasonable options that are actually designed to get a good policy result in the end. that's why i've agreed to keep my party's significant concession of offering to process both t.p.a. and t.a.a. on the table. it's why i've said we could also consider other policies that chairman hatch

mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i thank my good friend from oregon and want to congratulate both the senator from oregon and the chairman of the finance committee senator hatch, for moving this important legislation forward. thursday's vote to open this git -- to open this debate on trade was a really important day for this country. it brought mulled-class families -- it brought middle-class families one step closer to the jobs our economy needs. it took a lot of work to get us this far. it is going to take a lot more of that kind of work to bring these american jobs over the finish line. cooperation from both sides of the aisle will be critical to doing so. for instance, we were ready to be in session on friday to get more of our work done on trade and allow senators from both parties the chance to offer amendments. all the unnecessary delaying and filibustering we've seen has left us with less time for debate and amendments on this bill -- less time for debates and amendments on this bill. it cost the s

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: the senate will have the opportunity this afternoon to open the legislative process for a broad 21st century american trade agenda. let me remind senators that the vote we're taking today is not a vote to approve or disapprove of trade promotion authority. in fact, the bill we'll be voting to proceed to is simply a place holder that will allow us to open a broad debate on trade that our country very much needs. voting yes to open debate on the 21st century american trade agenda offers every member of this body the chance to stand up for american workers american farmers, american entrepreneurs and american manufacturers. it's a chance to stand with americans for economic growth, opportunity and good jobs. selling products stamped made in america to the many customers who live beyond our borders is key. that's true across our entire country. it's true in my home state of kentucky. we know that kentucky already boasts more than half a million jobs related to trade. we know th

mr. mcconnell: mr. president this morning i restated my commitment to working with senators in a serious way to move our country ahead on trade and the economy of the 21st century. sdhat weeed >> moving our country ahead on trade and economy in the 21st century. we need to allow debate to begin and our colleagues across the aisle need to stop blocking us from doing so. that is the view from our side the view from the white house and the view of serious people across the political spectrum. ever. the stated my commitment. serious and bipartisan does not mean agreeing to impossible guarantees or swallowing poison pills but it means pursuing reasonable options designed to get a good policy result in the end. that is why i have agreed to keep my parties significant concession that t pa mta on the table and are considering other policies and why have underlined my commitment to an open amendment process once we get on the bill. of course, our friends across the aisle now also want a path forward on all four

mcconnell agrees. mr. reed has half a point. both of the bills will otherwise expire at the end of may and holding trade hostage to them would be sheer strong-arm politics. that's "the washington post" with that this morning. and then also want to share with you the front page of the "houston chronicle" below the fold. this story today, texas climbed high before falling hard. former u.s. house speaker jim wright a towering speaker who resigned amid scandal died wednesday and says in fort worth the city he represented in congress for more than 34 years. he was 92 years old embodyying a by gone era right wield of power at the pinnacle of politics until he was taken down by ethics charges and a book deal and outside income. c-span interviewed jimal wright on his book, here's some of that interview. [video clip] . >> i have been very successful in -- making peace factions of -- but a failure in making peace among factions of congress. my bipartisan approach in foreign policy. we won, i prevailed. in what i thought was my duty. but i

mr. wyden: thank you very much mr. chairman. madam president, i would ask at the conclusion of my remarks i'd ask unanimous consent that senator durbin, who is he a been very gracious to let me follow the finance chairman, be allowed to speak. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: thank you very much. madam president and colleagues, chairman hatch has made a number of important points here this morning, and i just want to to up and give a little bit of an -- to follow up and give a little bit of an upup-and-touch on one issue that has not been discussed. first, i think under chairman hatch's leadership, both sides have been working together in good faith with respect to the amendments and i think it would be fair to say the chairman and i are optimistic that we can have a good and fair list of amendments. that's number one. i want to commend both the democrats and the republicans for part of that amendment discussion. second, with respect to the cur

mr. snowden could have done, maybe instead of linking the order he could have leaked the database. we don't know what happens when some inhabitants of the white house this one or another one have the unit and decide to let them have access to the database. these are realistic concerns about letting the government have this massive body of data without anything -- look. i'm sure look. i'm sure part of your answer has to be command it makes sense, whoever makes the rules they could be abused. if you tell the government they can do this, it has the technological pacitti's, they can get it anyway somehow to have all our phones and we would never know it. if they are bad guys these are restrictions but there are levels of restriction. you know it is one thing to have congress adopt a program and say this is what it is that we consider what needs to be done. and one that says, well, they can give what is relevant that they should be careful how they use it. then we infer from that this massive

mr. leader thank you for joining us this morning. this is president's top legislation, this trade policy. you appear to be his pointman in the senate what is it going to take to get it pass? >> we'll pass it later this week. the president has done an excellent job on this. i point out to my members who are somewhat squeamish by giving the president a power on any issue, given his expansive view, on his powers on so many other issues that is a trade promotion authority not just for president obama but for the next president as well, this is a six-year trade promotion authority bill that will give the next president an opportunity to enter into additional trade agreements with other countries around the world. we know america is a big winner when we lower barriers to our products abroad, it also has a foreign policy and defense component. a lot of the counties in asia are a little apprehensive about not only chinese economic domination but potential chinese military domination. they would like to get closer to us and this is a great op

mr. fortier: thank you. john and i will take some time to ask questions and have a conversation here, and we will turn our audience. at the risk of going on too long, i have two related questions, with an advertisement about what the bbc has done. my first one to john haskell who hinted that the era that many of us look bad to as the golden era of congress, of american politics, much of the late 20th century, was maybe an aberration, that we had political parties that were not left and right as much, much more overlap, that some of the institutions of congress really stem from this party differences, seniority, the importance of committees decentralization of power from leadership. i wanted to go further on that to say if that is the aberration, do we know some things about earlier eras and how these things work? maybe pick up on your optimistic note that parties are more separated, and still can be productive in some ways people think. i want to ask sarah, where sarah was picking up on p

mr. warren committee think the ship from the congregation process that emphasizes for cause verification would enhance the program integrity and simply would have a negative effect on access for eligible participants? >> no. i think again senator, there is a way to do it without impacting people who truly deserve it. what we found in our work is the for cause, the review of questionable applications, some school districts were not doing any for cause of repetitions of questionable applications. so there's definitely potential there to do that more consistently across school districts. and i should add a that's a usda requirement, school districts are required to conduct these type of reviews. anytime we see that type of inconsistency that gives us some concern. >> ms. neuberger, i would like to know more about the point of service and the child in a cafeteria worker -- and the cafeteria worker do interact and he couldn't happen you will be paid. decided this as a step which many errors do

our formula today will include remarks from senator mcconnell. it is my pleasure to introduce mrs. victoria reggie kennedy. we know her well in massachusetts. [applause] >> i think all has been said but you do know that she is a founding president of the institute and we would not be here without her energy, determination and her vision for making this place that will inspire a next generation of leaders. mrs. kennedy. [applause] mrs. kennedy: thank you so much for those warm words. it is so great to be with all of you and i would be remiss if i did not say a warm word of welcome to senator paul kerr, thank you for being here. also, our founding chair is here. [applause] thank you so much. good afternoon and happy mother's day to all of you. it is my great pleasure to welcome you to the edward m kennedy institute for the united states senate. this institute was created to educate the public about the important role of the united states senate and our government. to encourage participatory democracy, invigorate civil discourse, and inspire a new generation of leaders. this afternoon

mr. ernest: that will be something for future presidents and future courts to decide. reporter: is the president going to weigh in on whether [indiscernible] mr. ernest: the newly confirmed attorney general, loretta lynch is eminently qualified to make this decision. she dedicated a significant portion of her career to being a federal prosecutor, and she has a very good understanding of the way that law enforcement and prosecutorial enterprises should conduct themselves. there is a responsibility for the department of justice to ensure that justice is being instituted fairly, and she will make a decision about what role the department of justice should play in this matter. there are already two things underway here. the first is the department of justice investigation into the death of fredi gay when he -- freddie gray when he was in the custody of the police. last fall, there was interest expressed by local officials to have the department of justice assist them as they sought to put in

mr. vitka: to go into the fbi exemption, bob, i'm curious if you had thoughts on this. in your introduction, you said that transparency could be improved. it could be improved right now couldn't it? mr. litt: as i also said, there is a balance that has to be struck between transparency and impact on security. i think while -- and i am not an expert in the details of the transparency provisions -- but it is my understanding that some of the provisions were taken out and some of the existing provisions were strengthened. more detail was provided in more transparency in some areas. the fact is more you authorize release of information about specifically what we are doing the more you enable people to evade what we are doing and that is the balance that has to be struck in any kind of legislation like this. mr. vitka: i would think the most informative part there, for policy makers, would be the number of americans who are affected, and i do not mean the numbers who are targeted, that it woul

mr. vitka: i want to highlight this was a reuters report, and it detailed and i will ask patrick to explain it and bob to comment, but to present the severe dissonance that exists in terms of what this is. nancy, described it as phoning up investigations and said she'd never heard it anything like it. and senior dea officials called it decades old, a bedrock concept. and nancy was a judge, by the way. patrick? mr. toomey: to describe what and some of the critical -- criminal cases we litigate, and articles described, and articles have expended on especially to the dea's program and recent disclosure of bulk collection of phone calls out of the u.s., parallel construction is an effort to construct a parallel source for certain evidence in investigations. it often occurs in certain senses. where we see it or wait believe it happened where investigators obtain information using one authority, which is potentially controversial or novel or legally untested in the court and they rely on that a

a measure mr. obama could hurt the trade deal itself. they'll move forward on that as early as today and increase into next week. the path in the house is less clear and the speaker of the house who supports the deal has said the white house needs to provide at least 50 notes from the 188 democratic house lawmakers to help pass the maker. more than 150 democrats came out in opposition to the deal. and then in washington today, president obama will continue with his gulf summit at camp david. he's meeting with six countries. it says obama had planned to meet with the king of saudi arabia but the monarch decided to send deputies instead to the summit with the president and we'll have coverage of the summit at 5:00 p.m. eastern time and the president will be talking to the press after meeting with the leaders there. and the "new york times" reports that the saudis are promising to match iran's nuclear capabiliti. the summit is in part to get these gulf region countries on board with whatever the country negotiates but now arab leaders are p

mr. vitka: i want to highlight this was a reuters report, and it detailed an

mr. chairman. i guess the question i would have would be do we have districts that -- do we have districts that you have knowledge of that are doing a much better job than the average, you know, in regard to the problem? or are there districts that we can learn from that we can then take their knowledge and push to the, you know to other districts? >> i'm sure there are but our scope was confined to the 25 school districts we examined in detail. there's thousands of school districts across the nation. we didn't have the time or resources to visit all of those but we did get important insights from visiting the few we did examine in great detail. >> very good. >> with regard to direct certification the use of data from other programs usda does rank state performance. there's states doing a fabulous job. west virginia and kansas are examples of those. you'll have people on the next panel that can speak to that. michigan they have taken example of resources and made continuous improvements a

mr. vitka: does this strike you as a problem. mr. schwarz: it was not a problem for us. as i read about it, the senators and congressmen are enormously busy and they are given a limited amount of time and they cannot have a staff person who often is more broadly knowledgeable, and that is a problem. my guess is the intelligence community ought to be able to decide if staff people are deserving of high-level clearances, and then they could get rid of this rule that seems to say to senators and representatives you got to do it all on your own and you got a limited time, but why can't they clear high-level staff people on the committee's or elsewhere in the congress? ms. eoyang: if i could say why it is important why members of congress are not left on their own, because your average member of congress comes from a walk of life where they may not necessarily have expertise in the law or in technology. without someone else to explain to them how these programs work, they may not understand wh

mr. chairman. i look forward to be working with you on this important issue. we have been talking and looking for ways that we can move forward together and i look forward to working with you on this, as well as the entire committee as we continue the work we began last year to strengthen child nutrition programs. i want to thank the witnesses as well for testifying today. you bring very important perspectives from all sides of the issue, there are a lot of important pieces to this legislation and it's important we hear from you and work together to move forward. as we all know, our children's health and well being really are at a crossroads. obesity rates in children have tripled in the last 30 years. today one in three american children and teens are overweight or obese. we are now seeing health problems typically unseen until adulthood adulthood, high blood pressure to type two diabetes are in young people who should be focused on little league or going to the prom. this obesity epidem

he basically threw president obama's words back at him saying, mr. obama, just last year you were saying this program is successful and incredibleiness. now you are looking to get rid of it what gives? he also said we are not ready for a transition yet. there is a move afoot to give us an extra transition period so the nsa can move to private holdings of the phone data so to speak. the big question is will that succeed? will we have this transition period so the nsa can set up a new program?nnell says if we end the program right now as this house bill calls for, we are not ready for that next step. that major debate is how much transition time do you give? can the administration get up and ready for a world which the data isn't held by the government, but instead held by private phone companies? >> it's complicated. what is going to happen? are they going to pass this? >> it's a good question. they are in the middle of discussing that. they'll pass something. i doubt they let all the powers expire because there are other powers that would expire ever

mr. chairman, i thank this panel and look forward to the testimony from the next one. thanks. >> senator stabenow? >> thank you mr. chairman. i just want to do a quick follow-up, mr. lord. you were talking about how as relates to simplification but also making sure we are rigorous in our -- in oversight standards and so on you indicated this snap program has a smaller error rate, which it does one of the smallest in the federal government in terms of overall errors and that there's a larger error rate in the food program. so if we were going more in the direction of tying it to snap community eligibility which has saved a lot of money in michigan and been very effective, is that what you were suggesting? looking at snap which actually has more rigorous oversight lower error rate, and tying it to that might actually establish both goals of simplification and also tightening things up? >> that was -- yeah, that's what i was suggesting and i was citing the omb figures on their estimated impr