his tour match. on wednesday he will visit the white house starting with a welcoming ceremony on the south lawn followed by a meeting with president president obama and then on thursday he makes history on capitol hill, becoming the first pontiff to address the house of representatives and the senate. follow all of our live coverage of this historic visit to washington. watch live on tv or go online at c-span.org. >> on the next "washington journal", we continue our coverage of the pope's visit to the united states. our guest is jim nicholson, former ambassador to the bush administration who will talk about u.s. and vatican relations and look ahead to the pope's visit to the white house and the speech before congress. "washington journal" is live everyday at 7:00 o'clock a.m. eastern. you can join with calls and comments on facebook and twitter .

>> senate democrats today block a republican bill that would ban most abortions after 20 weeks of dignity. the measure failed to advance in a 54-42 vote on short of the 60 votes needed. before the vote dick durbin andt others spoke about the bill.o v this is 25 minutes. we're gng tv >> we have another vote fors one abortion later on planneds. parenthood. and then we are going to have to try to figure ou ht a way to fun the government. this responsibility is on the republicans that control theo house and the senate and it's the not our responsibility. we help in anyway that wede can. we have not held up anything i'm procedurally and we do not intend to do that. we want to avoid a government b fund. but we are at a crossroads and ha i'm not sure that we can make it with the times said because of all of these unnecessary votes

that have been scheduled these last couple of weeks. i hope that we can make it and t not have to see the governmentam shutdowner again.who have but you know, we have seen that before. and the american people have e been to that rodeo before.hat t who has suffered?create the american people. i would hope that the republican leader has a plan to help us get out of this mess that they have created and to make sure that the american people are treated. mr. prident, bills. seet, we have to get there by october 1. and mr. president, i see no se wil >> under the previous order, the reserved. time is the senate will resume the consa consideration to proceed to hr 36 which the clerk is going to report. >> motionpa to proceed to protet

paint capable unborn children. >> under the previous order the time until 11:00 a.m. will be equally divided between the the leaders or their designee is.at. >> mr. president. >> the assistant democratic leader. >> mr. president. i would like to address the of issue before the senate as it it relates to the devices on the controversial issue of abortion. and that comes out an unusual unusual moment in the history of the united states congress. this week for the first time,fie the pope is going to be the uted addressing a joint session of al congress. great first pope visited the unitedoss states. with the arrival of pope frances this week, it is a cause of of great celebration.ership of the people from my state of illinois and across the nation, becauseo of their respect for his

leadership of catholic church.. but it also questioned, ofch course, the relationship between religion and our government. this summer i finished a book sn called mayflower, which told tho story of the pilgrims coming to the united states, settling indb our country and looking for new opportunities and looking more the than anything for freedom of sam thege of they were followed by scores of others who came for the same sier my mother was an immigrant to r, this country rot at the age ofcs two years old and her mother brought her and her sister and brother to our shores for a variety of reasons, but there's one thing that sticks out in thn journey. in my office i have som cething that my grandmother carried acrossbo the ocean to the united states. it was a roman catholic prayer book i written that was contrabd

nt in 1911 in lovely words and theg russians were making it illegalh to practice the catholic religion. i never knew my grandmother but she was a brave ladyye to bring three kids across the ocean and to stick in her back bag back prayerbook that meant so much to andur which he could use in the uniteg states of america without the government telling her she could not. we have tried to strike the righ right balance between religion and democracy from the rigion beginning. and the founding fathers got it free right, i believe. as they said three things in the constitution about religion that each of us would have theigion, freedom to worship as we choose what she was not to worship.oust and secondly that the government would not choose a religion that we would not have an official government religion. and third, there would be nowe d

religious test for public office in america. i thought that those o were settled principles. but this campaign suggests otherwise. we have the outrageousan p suggestion by a republicanre presidential candidate this last weekend that a muslim shouldime never serve as president of the united states.sion i would think that a man of his background and learning would at least take the time to the express provision which says that he's wrong and there will e never be a religious litmus tese to serve in the united states ii public office. but now on the floor of the united states senate, we would have to vote on the issue of abortion. there was a time when this issue came before us frequently and ri not so much lately. it is a divisive and controversial issue. but this week we have allowed two of the presidential same

candidates to raise this issue on the floor of the united addr states senate. it's no coincidence that this comeses before us the same week. that the pope will be addressing a joint session of congress anda it's more than a coincidence. this bill particularly relates to termination of tenancy. govet for 47 years, maybe i have that calculation wrong. we have had supreme court guidance on when the government can play a role in the decisiond about the determination termination of pregnancy. change the basic guidance from roe versus wade's decision. wi every time we step into thisn question and into something that seems as clear as drawing a line rmin and after that they cannot have a legal termination of meeting pregnancy, we find that you you're walking into an area of

uncertainty. i remember many years ago and when we were debating this issue a woman from illinois was found. from the town of naperville and in 1996 she told me a harrowing story of how legislation, like ou the billts before us, would have impacted her. she learned late in her pregnancy that the child she was carrying could not survive outside of the womb and the baby was diagnosed with nine majorher anomalies including a fluidad oh filled cranium with no brain tissue. sadly she also hadio underlying. medical conditions thatpregnanct complicated her pregnancy even e more. doctors were concerned if she went through the pregnancy at s ced that point she would run the - risk of never having another baby. with tears in her eyes told me how she and her husband agonized over the news and eventually decided that it was best for them and their other children tt terminate that pregnancy. if this bill before us today,he,

the 20 week abortion ban had ito been the law oulf the land bac then, it would have jeopardized8 an endangered her health.ater while some 18 years later sheck seems have to see me. and i learned that she was able to do what was best for her family and terminating a pregnancy, that was her decision with her doctor and her husband. but she was given a seconde was chance. soon after she became pregnanthr again,th t this time she was thankful to give birth to a a healthy baby boy.tball when she came to see me and telo me about her son, she said thatl he had becomean a star football player and had a bright future o ahead. if this bill hadte been the lawy the land, this woman in illinois and others like her would not have even had the choice to terminate a pregnancy for herwhe own health protection and for the opportunity to have another

baby. pos and that issi the challenge that de we face when we try to spell out in law all of the medical the .ossibilities limiting circumsns opportunities to be made,ther decisions to be made by a individuals under the most heartbreaking circumstances. this bill has other issues. the fact that the rape and questi incest exconeptions that have largely been built into the law at this point would be changed i dramatically by this law, raises questions as well. h oe requirement as i understande it that victims of incest would have hady to report to a one ciu force and agency before theynk t would be able to terminate a han pregnancy under these circumstances and that is not ee realistic, to think that a yount child in a household that has been exploited by another member of the family would think to goe to a law-enforcement agency and report the other member of thete

family before they could qualify to terminate a pregnancy in that circumstance and that shows you the extremes that the bill goes too. through. and i hope that we will defeat this measure. fu and we can build a bipartisan i step to move forward in a bipartisan fashion in this and this bill does not do that. i yield the floor. sator >> i want to respond to a couple of arguments made by the democratic senator yesterday. fo the quoted the american association

of obstetricians and gynecologists that a 20 week obri fetus is cinot viable. the american congress obstetrics and gynecologists, the group that doctor lawrence represents, legislation.or according to the senator that i am confronting on this issue, doctor lawrence said on may 13, 2015, and i want to quote that,. or a form is a 20 week fetus viable. there is no evidence anywhere of a 20 week fetus surviving even with intensive medical care. d on and especially when applied to

hr 36. >> and the legislation would wks protect this beginning 20 weeks after fertilization. and that includes 22 weeks o as well-established that babies can survive at two weeks gestational age as noted in "the washington post", for example that babies can survive at 22 weeks fnd o gestational age, that it has been known for 15 years. perhaps doctor lawrence wasecord

confused and abortions past 22 weeks, fetal age, are extraordinarily rare. and that includes the most lax abortion policies that don't collect data on the stage of pregnancy when an abortion isn performed. claim. and it's hard to know what hard evidence really exists to support the claim and i aske prc

unanimous consent to put "the washington post" article in the record at the end of myms. coll: mrpresid >> mr. president? >> the senator from maine.erm >> thank you, mr. president. >> mr. president, i am opposed t to late-term abortion. and with support legislation and so to apply in those rare cases, it should have been included in this bill.

this [inaudible]egis they are at risk of serious hara >> mr. president, let me give of just three samples of devastating conditions and an extremely serious condition triggered by pregnancy and somep women and this condition can lead to long-term consequences for help for a woman including liver and kidney problems, a vision disturbances, seizuresith and stroke. and another example would be aed

woman diagnosed with cancer who requires chemotherapy and radiation but cannot be treated while pregnant. ather a massive infection is yetous another case of a grave illness that could cause grievous mrpresid situations for a woman and her physicalun health. mr. president, almost every country in europe that limits late-term abortions allowed for, the physical health of thessiss, mother. and states like alabama, arkansas,re louisiana, mississippi and others that ban late-term abortion could provide thist w

exception. exceion when and i have advocated that the language that would provide an exception when the woman is at serious risk of grievous injury to her physical health. man mr. president. this has been a high standard to me and one that would allow a woman to terminate her pregnancy when the alternative is seriou harm to her physical health. and under this bill, weeks mr. president, the doctor thatgt performed such an abortion to ca prevent grievous physical years injuries would be subject to criminal of up to five years inn prison. do we really want to make awith

criminal possession when someone is trying to prevent a woman with preeclampsia from suffering damage to her kidneys and liver and having a stroke or seizure and do we want the threat of prison for a doctor that knowse? that his pregnant patient needs chemotherapy order radiation treatment. if the woman has a terrible misfortune to have a seriouser onfection of amniotic fluid thad threatens her physical health and her ability to have children in the future, do we want the face doctors to be unable to perform an abortion.

[inaudible]re mr. president, the way that these exceptions to the bill are drafted are also problematic. t wel >> and the point is there are all of these language problems bi

and therefore mr. president, i. shall cast my vote in opposition to this vaudeville. thank you, mr. president. mr. >> mr. president, the senator from south carolina. >> mr. president, i am a proudae collect senator. america have.he chaiens >> over 50 million americans have not had the chance to haves their feet on the soil of their country. p and that is why i am grateful that we in the united states senate have the ability to celebrate life and to protectoic life. god's most amazing gift of all.

and i'm proud to introduce cleahat this version of the united t states senate. les and more than 18,000 lives each and every year. and we are talking about tt anything other than the results of sound science and they will

be given anesthesia. because that little light, thatt feels pain. and this is not about the choice and this is about 10 fingers and 10 toes and one beating heart. >> and there's still abortions

. pres in demand. only seven out of 200 nations, mr. president.today, and of the united states, really? and so why i may stand here w today, mr. president, with a h gnawing in my stomach, i also stand with hope. the hope that we can take a l massive step forward.islation especially when protecting life. 18,000 lives per year by passint this important legislation.

and we shall be as a city upon . hill, the eyes of all people that are upon us. >> thank you, mr. president. >> serve? >> i asked that we have a quorum call before the 11:00 o'clock vote the equally noted. >> without objection. >> here's the hill.com and their senate gop to prevent government shutdown covering capitol hill for the help. rebecca focuses on budget issue and the senate on