senator graham: senator harris? senator harris: mr. lee, i heard you acknowledge that your college writings were immature and not reflective of how you think today. but you also have more recent writings. n 2007 you to wrote an article defending laws that keep people from voting if they've been convicted of a crime. you also submitted an amicus brief regarding one such law in new york. one out to a survey, of 10 african-american womens have lost the right to vote. 60 nonblack of voters have lost the right to vote. mr. lee: statistics i have seen suggest a disparate impact. senator harris: do you think hat disparate impact should be considered? mr. lee: i think courts are deciding on that. i'll follow thes predebt -- precedent whatever it may be, as a judicial nominee, i think it's inappropriate to opine on issues that may come up before me if i'm confirmed. senator harris: do you think the courts should consider disparate impact on specific populations? mr. lee: i think in come contexts, courts have accepted disparate effects analysis.

senator enzi: senator. senator sanders: let me just very briefly quote from the aarp and the aarp says that the effort to repeal the affordable care act in the courts, which is what the trump administration is supporting, would, quote, allow insurance companies to once again charge people with high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, or other conditions up to 10 times more than what others pay for the same coverage or deny them coverage altogether. this would be a deficit -- this would be devastating to the estimated 25 million older adults with a pre-existing condition, end of quote. if you vote to repeal the affordable care act, you're ting to end protections on pre-existing conditions. senator enzi: time has expired for debate on the amendment. amendment is laid aside. a recorded vote will be taken at an agreed time. we have a slight change in the schedule. it's been requested and that's to next consider stabenow number 5 to accommodate her and then crammer with his number 1 with the side-by

right now in the senate the senate budget committee is continuing to be able to work on a budget. the president turns in a budget and as many people know, since 1974 the president's budget is just a document of ideas. the senate and the house agree together on a budget, set a number, and then do appropriations bills. that's how we actually do the spending for the federal taxpayers' dollars. that tipically begins since 1974 with a budget from the house and senate. they're working on that budget document now in the budget committee but here's the difficult thing. in all likelihood that budget documents will come out of committee and will never come to this floor and will never be voted on. because of the difficulty we have facing right now on our deficit and the challenges that budget will have to be able to move through the process. this body will in all likelihood do what they call deem a budget number. no real plan, just set a budget number and then move on and start heading towards appropriations. layer upon layer of debt and deficit is added to where we are as a nation, and our

senator broun: senator kramer. senator cramer: i have 20 minutes but i'll try to say a few things in two. in fact, i am going to shift completely to a very pragmatic issue. dave, it's been cold in north dakota, has it not, one of the coldest winters in decades? mr. glatt: that's right, senator. senator cramer: long time. two weeks ago, could be any in the last five or six, is it not true in the midwest the integrated resource planning that involves one of the concerns you raised early on in your testimony, involves the availability of available -- the availability of a robust energy on the grid, electricity, was at stake. and why was that? mr. glatt: the demand was so great during this cold spell. senator cramer: when we have high demand and the grid relies on energy sources that are not reliable, intermittent, what happens is that there is not enough supply and that's exactly what happened. the people of minnesota complained their electricity was not as robust as a result what always happens at least 90% of the ti

senator margaret smith of main, senator tomas of oklahoma, senator green of rhode island, senator taft of ohio. here is the senator himself. his daily work typifies of all senators. reading and answers letters from his constituents. this is as it should be are his neighbors and those that support made him a senator. this pile of 10,000 letters was received in two weeks. many constituent come to call in person to seek jobs, ask favors to make proposals. letters or people must get personal attention and those that call in person must receive, their problems discussed and answered. national lawmakers must be sensitive to the constantly shifting opinions and criticisms of the public. as expressed over the radio -- >> spending is the favorite occupation of the administration, a million here and a billion there. >> the newspapers or editorial columns. and in television bringing praise or criticism to the senator of massachusetts and his colleagues. magazines are another check. this freedom of the press is the cornerstone of democracy. but the most direct contact of all is talking to neighbor

the senator from alabama. a senator: i call up my amendment. go ahead. the presiding officer: morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to h.r. 268 which the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to h.r. 268, an act making supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2019, and for other purposes. mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: all postcloture time has expired. the question is on the motion to proceed. all in favor say aye. those opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the bill. the clerk: calendar number 15, h.r. 268, an act making supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2019, and for other purposes. mr. mcconnell: madam president, i ask consent that withdraw amendments 5 and 6. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. shelby: i call up my amendment

committee, senators from coal states such as senator barrasso who is here from wyoming and senator whitehouse from rhode island and senator carper and myself, we have been working for market-driven solutions to the challenge of atmospheric co2. members of both parties will continue to work on these important policies to meaningfully address carbon challenges while also protecting and creating jobs. we do not need a $93 trillion turn that fundamentally alters the foundations of our country. we're capable of making investments in technology and infrastructure to address our nation's challenges in a commonsense and bipartisan way. but the green new deal is not practical, it is not realistic, and it's a bit scary that so many democrats are embracing it. the american people deserve to know where each of us stands on this policy. that's why we're going to have a vote. i'm glad that we'll have the opportunity to take a vote on this resolution in the coming months, and i hope that all of my colleagues will join me in opposing this utterly unfathomable and unworkable resolution. i yield the floor. >>

senator schumer: you said it right the first time. reporter: if it's going to come up again, how soon? senator schumer: well, you know, the president will first veto it. it goes to the house. he won't have the 2/3. but i believe the law allows us to bring it up every six months. and certainly we would intend to do that. reporter: what's the point? if the president will move forward anyway? senator schumer: the point of defending the checks and balances that the founding fathers put so exquisitely in our government? we hope of winning the 11th. reporter: green new deal, are you confident your caucus is going to be unified? senator schumer: yeah. we are totally unified. everyone knows this bill is a sham. and we are going to ask our republican colleagues to answer three simple questions. thus far they refused to answer them. one, is climate change real? two, is it caused by human activity? and three, should congress do something about it? the fact that they're afraid to answer those three simple questions with no prescription as to what

>> no, senator. my point was previously in the past, congress in the '90s had defended legal immigration by drawing a distinction and the point of that article was by blurring the distinction you may hurt legal immigration if the public views them the same. i wasn't taking a position. i was describing the politics of that. >> when you were in law school you wrote an article entitled untruth in academia as an example of what you called, quote, epidemic lying in academia that on most college campuses professors repeat the mantra one in four girls is a victim of rape or attempted rape. on what basis did you question the accuracy of the statistic? >> senator, i was quoting and summarizing a professor named christina hoff summers who had written about that. senator, sitting here today, i wouldn't write that because frankly i don't know, you know, whether -- what professor summers had written was true. i summarized that obviously, senator, this is issues of sexual assault an important issue as a father of

the committee is chaired by senator lindsey graham. senator graham: good morning. i believe senator cotton is here to make an introduction. we'll lead with you. senator cotton: thank you, mr. chairman. i am honored to introduce my old friend ken lee to be circuit judge for the court of appeals of the ninth circuit. i hope i haven't hereby doomed his chances. joining

senators. mcconnell had said he would support the president's emergency declaration, but he has not exactly been very strident in his support for it. he has generally demurred when asked about the legality of the emergency declaration. so i think it is a message from mcconnell to republican senators that they should do what they think is best. on the other hand we have been hearing in recent days that the trump administration has been louder and louder in terms of pressuring republican senators to keep the vote total down, but i do not think they will get this low enough that it will not pass. >> if the resolution does pass the senate, and the president plans to veto it, what are the next steps for the house and senate? niels: then we would have a veto override that would have to play out after the march recess week. we do not expect there will be enough votes in the house. you mention the tally earlier, we do not think there is enough votes in the house to get a two thirds majority to override

in other senate news majority leader mitch mcconnell confirmed the senate would vote thursday on hj rose 46 terminating the president's emergency defamation of the southern border. when the seven votes on that house passed resolution for republican senators obligated they will vote in favor of it susan collins of maine, thom tillis of north carolina lisa murkowski of north carolina and senator rand paul of kentucky. the majority made commitment to a thursday boat vote when he met with Ãearlier today following caucus meetings >> madam president, today the entire senate democratic caucus and i are introducing simply ask the department of justice to do what it's supposed to do defend the duly enacted laws of the country. this resolution shouldn't be necessary but last year as 19 states joined texas and challenging the constitutionality of the affordable care act attorney general jeff sessions refused to defend the aca in court. and in fact, filed a brief arguing that several vital protections of the law should be ruled unconstitutional including protections for americans living with pre-ex

senator isakson: senator cramer. senator cramer: thank you, mr. secretary, for being here. thank you for our previous discussion. i will ask my questions specifically to you and you can defer them to others if it is more appropriate. you talked a fair bit in your testimony about alternatives to pain management, alternatives to opiods and you talked about something like ack cue puncture and other times of care. but you didn't talk about the chamber treatment and particularly for pain. we found it to be effecttive and other types of treatment like post-traumatic stress, brain injuries, things common to veterans and athletes. i wonder why and what do you think the potential is for that? secretary wilkie: it wasn't for lack of appreciation of the treatment and i pledge to you that i will be out in fargo to look at the headquarters of one of america's largest chambers. we have to be more creative. particularly as treatments become more complex for more complex injuries, particularly the injuries of the brain. we are not at the sputnik stage when it comes to exploring the brain a

. >> the senate has already approved about three dozen of the senate's appellate court -- the presidents appellate court nominees. why does mcconnell think this change is necessary? >> two things are going on. one, mitch mcconnell thinks there have just not in enough nominees approved. democrats ofd obstruction and not allowing president trump to have as many nominees by this time in his presidency as president obama did. on the other side of that coin, believe --vatives some believe this is an attempt to go nuclear, to set up a vote on the entire nuclear option. mitch mcconnell needs 60 votes to approve this rule change, which he may not get because he would need a significant amount of democrats to vote with him. happen, theyoesn't have already threatened that they are going to change the rules of the senate entirely to mean that they would only need 50 votes to pass, to get nominees through. in that case, he would need 50 votes to get that done, and that might not happen. a much betterhas chance of that than a 60 vote threshold. >> how are senate democrats responding to all this? sena

reporter: senate republicans have tried to play down - what issues were you perceived to know -- senator schumer: well, we have to see what's comes up in the future. first thing they can do is follow their house colleagues and let the resolution that says mueller report should be made public through. i mean, when devin nunes, jim jordan, and so many others vote yes for the senate republicans to block it is just confounding. where are they coming from? do they really believe the report shouldn't be made public? are they really going to participate in a cover-up? come on. reporter: now that the lee bill is not being used to -- emergency declaration, is that something the democrats will consider supporting when it comes out of committee? senator schumer: well, look, you know, i'd have to look at the careful wording of the lee bill. but for any republican who says, well, it's ok for him to do it this time, now let's look at next time, is -- it's crosses purposes. if it's wrong it's wrong. for this president and for any other. reporter: since this is a privileged revolution -- resolution -- i

senate here on c-span2. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. sovereign lord, you are our refuge and strength. we look to you for mercy and grace. send to our lawmakers the power and grace they need today to glorify your name in all they do. lord, give them the purity of heart that will shut the doors to all evil. keep their feet in the path of integrity that they may walk securely. develop in them a perseverance which refuses to leave any task half done. empower them with a diligence to offer you no less than their best. we pray in your powerful name. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting 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: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume considerat

i want to address with senator sanders, senator murray said, and senator wyden about the particulars with and how we should spend moment money in a moment. regardless of what you want to spend money on, and we are going to have an honest disagreement, i would love to see some explanation of how $1 trillion deficit, soon to become 1,000,000,000,000 1/2, are going to be good for any of us. all i know, in places where budgets count, where you have done payrolls, he would be ending up in bankruptcy court, and you would not be an institution that was getting anything done. we are a terrible example, and we should be setting the best example. we are going to have policy disagreements. it should not be to the whole budget process has become, we will agree with what you should spend on domestic, you agree on what you want to do with defense spending. we high-five and walk away with another trillion dollar deficit. never going to work, we are going to be delivering to the american public either a series of calamities, or a major one, that will make this discussion really academic. i want to t

the senate overruled this decision. --n reformers sought to finally in 1975, reformers were knocking on the doorstep of culture reform. for the first time a majority of 51 senators agreed over the objections of mike mansfield. alabama use some savvy of his own to maintain the filibuster, but this gave senators the opportunity to reach a compromise. in exchange for an amendment that lowered culture to three phipps, the senate held a series andt to undo the precedent adopted the amendment according to existing rules, which required the two thirds vote. the compromise left the threshold for changes in place to change the rules, but as we know, the standoff over nominations in the 2000s raise the possibility of changing procedure through precedent. 2013the majority in exercise the nuclear option and lowered the threshold on nominations to a simple majority, they did so through parliamentary moves that allowed the majority to set precedents. this is one step in a long generations long history of battles over how to change th

this is an amendment that's co-sponsored by my friend senat senator kaine and senator harris. i think we've seen it rearise on military installations all over the nation. when we looked at the ' 90s when we outsourced to eight contractors for 50-year terms that we may not have put enough review process for those contractors and we've seen repeatedly in virginia, almost every member have heard reports of service members living in homes with enormous amounts of mold, lead, rodent, carbon monoxide poisoning and i even had one service member's spouse who was basically poisoned by carbon monoxide and the company rung the installation's housing told her to go back into that facility even before it was fixed. i mean, this is -- our service members deserve better. we've seen a whole host of additional problems and oftentimes when spouses who were not on the leases do not get a chance to report back to the companies and i want to commend the members of sas who brought in the service heads as well as the eight companies. this is a failure of management, frankly at the service level and

in the united states senate. really appreciate you being here. >>> when we come back, freshman congresswoman ianna will join us and we'll be joined with reaction to new information about another possible obstruction of justice by president trump and today donald trump criticized beto o'rourke's hand gestures and we will do and we'll also study donald trump's hand gestures and at the end of the hour, i'll discuss something i've been very reluctant to discuss but become a larger worry from some people since michael cohen said this. >> there will never be a peaceful transition of power. >> and then the president gave an interview yesterday in which he said something that sounded to many people like a threat if he lost the election or was impeached and i don't want to fan the flames of panic about this but at the end of this hour i'll tell you what i think will happen in the next presidential transition of power. directly to petmeds.com. because it's the easiest way to save 30% on all the medications we carry. so ski

senate. the white house has promised a veto, but even then we will be in uncharted territory for this president. something more to look forward to. that does it for us tonight. see you again tomorrow. now it's time for "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell. good evening, lawrence. >> good evening, rachel. and the president lost an important vote in the senate today on that saudi-led war in yemen, senate voting to eliminate support for it basically. he's on his way to losing another one tomorrow. we have senator jeff merkley joining us tonight on both of those votes and more. >> very good. >> we also have chairman adam schiff of the intelligence committee here, because there are a few things to talk about tonight, rachel, in what happened in the courtroom, in what happened with jerry nadler in the house of representatives. so much. >> yeah, this is a day when i feel like i've just started to sketch out in my mind what i want to talk about on the show because there is so much going on. >> yes

happens to have the most difficulty job of any republican senator in the united states senate. at 78 years old, will he really be looking forward to another four years of humiliation by donald trump or four years of nothing but trying to block the democrats' judicial nominations? after this break, we'll take a look at all of the reasons mitch mcconnell might not run for reelection to the senate, including how jealous he must be of paul ryan right now. ht now we just got married. ht now we're all under one roof now. congratulations. thank you. how many kids? my two. his three. along with two dogs and jake, our new parrot. that is quite the family. quite a lot of colleges to pay for though. a lot of colleges. you get any financial advice? yeah, but i'm pretty sure it's the same plan they sold me before. well your situation's totally changed now. right, right. how 'bout a plan that works for 5 kids, 2 dogs and jake over here? that would be great. that would be great. that okay with you, jake? get a portfolio that works for you now and as your needs change from td ameritrade invest

you see the senate floor drama unfolding right now, the senate set to rebuke the president over the national emergency. i'll speak to one senator who's siding with the president. >>> hear how the campaign of one of his competitors is trolling him. i'm mildly obsessed with numbers. so, i started with the stats regarding my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. like how humira has been prescribed to over 300,000 patients. and how many patients saw clear or almost clear skin in just 4 months - the kind of clearance that can last. humira targets and blocks a specific source of inflammation that contributes to symptoms. numbers are great. and seeing clearer skin is pretty awesome, too. that's what i call a body of proof. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if you've had tb,

happens to have the most difficulty job of any republican senator in the united states senate. at 78 years old, will he really be looking forward to another four years of humiliation by donald trump or four years of nothing but trying to block the democrats' judicial nominations? after this break, we'll take a look at all of the reasons mitch mcconnell might not run for reelection to the senate, including how jealous he must be of paul ryan right now. re psori, little things can be a big deal. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about

senator booker made -- making history as the first black senator from new jersey. he is now pitching optimism as the best way to defeat president donald trump. you can applaud to that. tonight senator booker is going to take questions from democrats, from independents who say that they plan to participate in the democratic primaries or caucuses. also in our audience tonight, students, faculty, and staff from the city's two historically black universities, hbcu's clapland, and south carolina state. please welcome senator cor why h booker, everyone. get on up here. how are you doing, brother? >> so good to see you. >> thank you. wow, look at the reception. you want to sit? >> sure. >> so this is the land of barbecue. >> it is. >> and you're a vegan. what's that like? >> what's that like? >> how has that been for new. >> it's been a great experience for me for well being. when you come from a family that literally owned a soul food restaurant, my mom and dad t may have caused some trouble. but now they understand that for health reasons, it's a good way to go. >> but

i want to end just by thanking senator cornyn. senator cornyn said something yesterday that i think was extremely important. it's interesting how somebody who is in a state, maybe in new england or far, far away from the border to say there is no crisis. we don't have an issue down at the border. i have to believe that for somebody like senator cornyn who knows this issue, knows the threat, knows the impact, knows the human toll better than just about any of us, to say hey, why n don't you come down there and spend some time with me. why don't you do what so many others have done to see it firsthand. and now let's get out of the politics and saying it's a manufactured crisis that the president is reacting to. it's a real crisis. human lives are at stake. so many lives have been lost. we have to stop the carnage, get the politics out of it, secure the border and move on to immigration reform and so many other things that we should do. and with that, mr. president, i yield the floor and again i just want to thank president -- senato

>> thank you, senator. i think the current policy is one that complicates and adversaries decision-making process and i would not recommend any change to simplify an adversaries decision decision-making and i can also envision circumstances where we would not want to remove the option from the president in the future and i could certainly talk about that in a classified venue but i absolutely believe in the current policy as the right policy . >> thank you. as you know, those who favor reducing the nuclear forces often argue that a nonnuclear of ability can be substituted for nuclear weapons without diminishing our ability to credibly hold targets and risk, deter adversaries and assure our allies. a report released last september by the global zero group repeatedly makes this argument and claims that cyber weapons, in particular, can be substituted for nuclear weapons. do you think cyber operations, their effects and ability to deter hostile activity is comparable to nuclear weapons or are these extremely d

>> thank you, senator young. as a citizen of the great state of nevada not a member of the administration, i have nothing to say about that. if you confirm me and i become a member of the administration, i can commit to assisting the administration in answering those questions. >> i thought you'd answer somewhere along those lines. let me just note before yielding back to the good chairman that if the administration is not already tracking each of the different things i have requested of you, it would be a matter of sort of diplomatic malpractice, security malpractice from my perspective. it's my fervent hope the administration will follow the law and finally provide a credible certification as required under the law. thank you. >> senator cruz is next. >> thank you, mr. chairman. gentlemen, thank you both for your service. congratulations on the nominations you have received, but thank you also for being willing to serve. neither of the countries to which you've been nominated are easy postings, nor are they all

if it is passed it then goes on to the senate. if the senate votes against the bill it dies. but if it is passed in the senate, the bill must be sent on to the president. the president may either sign it, in which case it becomes a law, or veto it. if he vetoes the bill it may still become a law if the senate and house override it by a two thirds vote. in addition to making laws, congress has certain other specific duties to perform. for instance, issues all of the money in circulation throughout the usa under the constitutional power to borrow money on the credit of the united states. through the bureau of printing and engraving and the federal mint, the federal government makes all of the coins and all of the currency that all of us use in our everyday business. of course, congress can not just print new money every it has to pay the expenses of the government. they give them the power to raise what it needs by levying and collecting taxes, duties, impulse and excises. you must of heard your father speak of the income tax. these are duties levied on things such as movie adm

the senator also knows last september the senate passed senate bill 2155 that offers consumers free freezes for life. that was passed and that's in place. and we've implemented that along with the other three credit bureaus. with regards to our customer service center, there was clearly some challenges there as i look back on what happened in the fourth quarter. staffing up for something like this is quite challenging. in my testimony this morning, i talked about the incremental $50 million of investment we're making now in our customer service capabilities to enhance our abilities to manage our day-to-day interactions with consumers, as well as investing to make it easier for consumers to interact with us when they have a question. whether it's around a dispute or question on their file. >> thank you. >> mr. sorenson, in the testimony you provided, the written testimony you provided this committee, you noted, i'm going to make sure i get this right. you noted you did not receive any substantiated claims of loss from fraud attributed to the incident and none of the security firms you engage

>> thank you senator. i think many of us remember what housing was like in the midline these mid-90s and early 2000's. while we are having problems with some of our private contractors i think overall housing is in better shape than it was at the time that this initiative was started. i believe and i saw it myself at bases in new mexico at the time and as a young officer i never lived on base housing, i off base as a single officer but i do think the housing is better than what we had in the 1990s over all. that does not mean we change our approach to demanding that h when there is a problem it is promptly fixed and fixed in a competent way. there are few things i think will help the bill of rights i think will help and allow us to have some leverage to work through these contracts and change the way things are managed to. i think we need to strengthen the role of the base commander so they have input and control with leverage of the local contacting. i think we need to in contracting. we need to improve c

senators -- republican senators. mr. stewart: i worked for the late senator coverdale. i was the regional director from east georgia. when i got out of the army i was in georgia and i got in with his office and work for him. then they moved me here. sadly the day i started here was the date he passed away in an aneurysm. i moved on to other senators. senator phil gramm for a couple years. learned more than you could ever possibly learn about media relations and communications and speaking. when he retired i went with senator john cornyn, who won that seat and i stayed with him for about three years. then senator mcconnell when he was whipped and about to become leader asked me to come over and help set up the office. steve: what is the key to effective communication? so much has changed in the last 20 years. a rapidedia, cable, 24/7 new cycle. mr. stewart: as you said, it has accelerated. when i first started in the senate we had fax machines and typewriters and pagers. when i started in the leaders office the iphone did not exist. has not been the same since. it is a l

senator enzi: senator wyden. senator wyden: this ensures that taxpayer money is used efficiently and physicaltively. we passed the 2018 farm bill which had historic bipartisan support. it repealed 150 authorities that were duplicative. we understand the rural and agricultural economies continue to struggle at a time when producers are facing hardship, trade, weather, and credit. the farm bill provides much needed certainty to rural america over the next five years. unfortunately, the budget proposal called for $9 billion reconciliation language. senator stabenow's amendment ould strike the $9 billion reconstruction to the ag committee and we urge a yes vote. senator enzi: i would urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment. the instruction is a target and it is not prescriptive but up to the committees how to reach the deficit reduction total and that's if it makes it through the senate floor and through conference committee with the house. previous reconciliation instructions promoted energy independence and a l

senator lindsey graham and a few other republicans went to the white house last night. they barged in, according to senator lindsey graham, during a dinner with president trump and made some last-minute hail mary pitch to president trump to try to save this vote and lower those deflections including senator graham telling president trump he should potentially try to save mike lee's resolution that would limit the president's thought over future national emergency declarations. here's senator graham this morning. >> i don't expect you to give up any powers, mr. president, that you think is necessary, but if you could find a way to sit down and bridge the gap here perspectively, it would be in everybody's interest. >> and senator graham saying if president trump was open to changes, that would certainly minimize the defections in his words dramatically. we're pushing it for 2:15. we'll see the final numbers. we know enough are voting against president trump on this

chairman. >> thank you, senator reed. senator? >> thank you, mr. chairman. general scaparrotti, and general lyons, thank you very much for your work and i think it's clear that we have great leadership in your area of responsibility. general scaparrotti, about three weeks ago, this congress sent five delegations, house and smat, to the munich security conference. that show of force was followed on by a delegation going to the nato parliamentary assembly and another delegation going on a week later to the osce parliamentary assembly. does that volume of participation by house and senate members, send a positive statement, is it helpful to you, in dealing with your friends in europe, with our friends in europe? >> yes, sir, it's first, it's very helpful and it's helpful to us as a nation. you know, at munich, that was the largest congressional delegation they've ever had there. was noted by everyone. that in and of itself is a strong message of commitment to our allies in europe. and i would tell you the congressional delegations that travel during the year to

but then senator lindsey graham blocked the senate from even taking it up, even though the president tweeted that all republicans should vote for transparency. so, jonathan, why did senator graham do this? >> well, i think maybe we're looking at it backward here a little bit. >> okay. >> i think the president was willing to tweet that all the republicans should vote for transparency because he knew that when it came to senate that this was not going to go forward. so, why not tweet that it was perfectly fine with him that the house republicans all said that the mueller report should be made public. i mean, this is a president who said that the mueller investigation shouldn't have happened in the first place. this is not somebody who wants the mueller report made public. this is someone who's been calling it a witch hunt from day one, someone who has not treated this as something that was going to exonerate him. if it is something that does exonerate him, at the end it will end up looking like very bad strategy to have not embraced it in the first place. so, i think perhaps he didn't

senator schatz: thank you. chairman crapo: senator reed. senator reed: mr. chairman. thank you for your service. senator brown brought up in his comments your february 6 town hall where you made it clear that we have to work to make prosperity more dispersed throughout the society. you also indicate the many of the policies are beyond the purview of the federal reserve. most of them are clearly in the purview of congress f you could can just give us one or two -- your top three issues that we have to deal with or can deal with to make equality much more realized in this country? chairman powell: senator, i'll go back again to labor force participation, which, it's a big win for the overall economy and also the people who are not taking part in the labor force are by and large the less well educated. less skilled or people who may be in areas that were opioids are prevalent. i think a bipartisan focus, focus on labor participation would bring in a lot of policies that would help deal with what i see as problems which are sort of relatively stagnant growth in incomes, m

chairman. >> thank you, senator hawley senator warren. >> thank you mr. kmarm. i wanted to discuss a national security threat that can't be addressed by traditional military power at all. and that is climate change. the unclassified worldwide threat assessment by the director of national intelligence said -- i'm quoting here -- global environmental and ecowillingle degradation and climate change are likely to fuel competition for resources, economic distress and social discontent through 2019 and beyond. end quote. that assessment also said, quote, damage to communications, energy and transportation infrastructure could affect low lying military bases, inflict economic costs and cause human displacement and loss of life. i've asked this question to other combatant commanders to i want to make sure i get this on the record. general scaparrotti and general lyons do you agree with the intelligence community's assessment of the climb chanatee threat. >> i do. and i believe that as you noted much of this will be drivers for potential cliskt or at least very difficult

i am a senator from new york state. we are still often the number one terror target in this country. i spend so much time and effort getting resources for our first responders to make sure they have the money they need. i've been on the armed services committee for ten year. i focus on how to defeat terrorism worldwide. i promise you, you do not defeat terrorism by being hateful. let me tell you another thing. when i went to syria, and god bless your mother to survive thought refugee camps. i met with mothers who could well have been your mother. they looked me in the eye and say you are so afraid of sew sama bin laden. when you turned a bly eye toe people here, you are creating thousands every day. that is what donald trump is creating. he's making us less safe. his hatred makes us less safe. his muslim ban makes us less safe. i will protect this country. i will make sure we are safe, but i will make sure we remember we are at our best when we love one another. when we believe in the golden rule and we care about the l

creates, sponsored by senator klobuchar -- no, senator leahy and the senator pay for delay by senator klobuchar and the senator. those are bipartisan bills. thatther bipartisan bill you have -- you probably don't know about yet, but it is introduced by senator wyden and the couple weeks ago called right rebate act which would close a loophole that was exploited by my island in the epipen case. questions starting ranking member wyden and i have been working before i became chairman of this committee. we investigated a lot about gilead's pricing decisions for hepatitis c drugs. during that investigation, we acquired a document that listed some factors that gilead considered when it priced those drugs. those factors included the risk of "public outcry." or, the likelihood of a letter from congress. or the likelihood of a congressional hearing. taking off from that point, and very simple questions to answer, i think, i want a yes or no from each of you. when your company prices it's a drugs, do you consider the risk of negative public opinion in the pricing of that drug? can you answer ye

you were a member of the house, not the senate do you recall knowing whether senator mccain was going to vote yes? >> there was no certainty one way or the other. i was frustrated with that vote. this was something that was really frustrating. he wasn't the only republican member who voted against that bill. i was frustrating with my own senator for voting against the first -- my experience with senator john mccain is this. when i was running for congress the first time, he came out to utah. he helped me, invested a lot of time in that election. when we lost, he called me personally and said i want you to run again. i invested in you as a person, not in this election, not even in the party but you as a person. i remember going into the g.o.p. retreat for the very first time and i went up to him and i said senator mccain thank you for your help. he opened his arms and jumped up and down and said you are finally here. that's what i remember about senator john mccain, the war hero who was incredibly serious embraced me. you don't agree with people all the time. here is a colleague, a per

mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection.. mr. mcconnell: as if in executive session, i ask unanimous consent that at 1:30 p.m. on thursday, march 28, the senate proceed to executive session and consideration of executive calendar 9, that there be 15 minutes of debate equally divided in the usual form, and that following the use or yielding back of time the senate vote on the nomination with no intervening action or debate, thatful confirmed the -- that if confirmed the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, ment president be notified of the senate's action and the senate resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i stunned there is a -- i understand there is a bill at the desk. i he ask for its first reading. the presiding officer: the leader is correct. the clerk will read the title of the bill for the first time. the clerk: h.r. 297, an act to extend the federal recognit

. >> senate majority leader mitch mcconnell talked about changing senate procedure to cut debate on certain nominees from 30 hours to 2. his remarks are followed by minority leader chuck schumer on the president's push to repeal the affordable care act. so, mr. president, i come to the floor to discuss the unprecedented obstruction that has faced president trump's nominees for the past 26 months. and counting. and to announce that the senate is going to do something about it. mr. president, the system mat ific -- systematic, across the board delay and obstruction that have crippled this administration's nominations is unique in american history. every presidential election since adams beat jefferson in 1796 has left some senators disappointed that their side lost. there's always a losing side. and they're never happy about it. but the past two years have been the first time, mr. president, the first time ever that the unhappy party has used senate procedure to systematically blockade the new president's nominees and prevent him from even staffing up his administration. so let me say that ag