on behalf of the senior senator from iowa, i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. cardin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: azita raji has been nominated for ambassador of norway. having representatives on the ground in these countries is urgently needed. sweden and -- disputed territory claims make the stretches of water make the presence of strong american voice in sweden and norway essential. over 300 swedish citizens left the fight in syria or iraq making it the second-largest country of origin per capita for foreign fighters in europe. put it simply, we need representation in stockholm and oslo to protect the united states strategic interests abroad. i want to note particularly the close ties and deep friendship that the united states and norway bears toward each other

symbolized by the 32 foot h christmas tree at union station annually gifted to the american people by norway. the gratitude to u.s. assistance during and after world war ii. norway is a founding member of nato alliance and has been more than diligent in attending to its obligations, contributed to personnel in nato operations in afghanistan, libya and the balkans. its foreign minister serves as second general to nato. it is participating in nato submarine exercises. i'm pleased to note these nominees for these critical positions have incredible background. neither were controversial during the consideration by the senate foreign relations committee. azita raji is an accomplished businesswoman with an impressive international credentials. she was the vice president of j.p. morgan securities in tokyo,

japan, speaks five languages and is published in the journal of the american medication situation. samuel heins has over 40 years of legal experience. he is a distinguished human rights invoke cloture. he founded -- minnesota advocate for human rights. he has won human rights awards. samuel heins has been waiting for 200 days. this is not a recent matter. 200 days. azita raji has been waiting almost a year. almost a year for confirmation. these are people who are ready to serve our country, critical allies. therefore, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination: calendar number 148, the senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on the nomination, that if confirmed the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon

the table. this is the azita raji nomination. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. cruz: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cruz: reserving the right to object, when secretary kerry chose to ignore my request that the state department not submit this catastrophic iranian nuclear deal to the united nations, secretary kerry did so with open eyes. he did so knowing the consequences because i had spelled them out explicitly that the political nominees that he would want to put forward at the department of state would not proceed if secretary kerry chose to undermine the authority of the congress of the united states, to undermine the sovereignty of this country and to instead treat the united nations as the relevant decision-making body. he did so nonetheless. and as a consequence, the obama administration is proceeding

forward under this iranian nuclear deal as if it is binding law. the obama administration is proceeding contrary to law under the explicit terms of the congressional review act. the period of time for congressional review has not begun to commence because the obama administration has not submitted the entire deal to the united states congress. they have not submitted the side deals. and so as a consequence, under explicit u.s. law, it is contrary to the law for the obama administration to lift sanctions on iran. i would note to any bank at home or abroad that is in possession of iranian assets, any bank that chooses to release those assets to the ayatollah khameini or to other iranian interests will be acting directly contrary to federal statutory law and even though president obama and secretary kerry are choosing to disregard the law that does not

exonerate the private banks from potential civil liability in the billions or even criminal liability. the stakes are too high, mr. president. as we wrestle with the ravages of radical islamic terrorism, the idea that the president of the united states is trying to send over $100 billion to the ayatollah khameini, a theocratic zealot who promises death to america, makes no sense at all. and it means if and when those billions of dollars are used to fund jihadists who murder americans, the blood of those murders will be on this administration's hands. if you give billions of dollars to jihadists who have pledged to commit murder, you cannot wash your hands of responsibility for their doing exactly what they have told you they would do. accordingly, i object. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland.

mr. cardin: let me remind our colleagues we're talking about the ambassador to sweden. i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination: calendar 263, the senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on the nomination, that if confirmed the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. this is the samuel heins nomination. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. cruz: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cruz: i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: i would like to address the nomination of cassandra q. butts to the post of ambassador to the bahamas. she is the senior advisor, the c.e.o. of the millennium challenge corporation in washington, d.c. she is a leading attorney and former deputy white house counsel, known for expertise in domestic and foreign l policy particularly in migration policy due to her work on the board of the national immigration forum. i am confident that ms. butts will apply these skills to furthering bilateral

relationship between the government of bahamas, a key u.s. caribbean partner. therefore, i would ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination: calendar 127, that the senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on the nomination, that if confirmed the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. cruz: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cruz: reserving the right to object. today the single greatest national security threat facing america is the threat of a nuclear iran. president obama's catastrophic iranian nuclear deal dramatically increases the likelihood that the ayatollah khameini will possess nuclear weapons and will use those nuclear weapons to commit horrific acts of terror. moreover, secretary kerry's decision to go to the united nations and circumvent the congress of the united states disregard the authority of the people of the united states was unacceptable and was profoundly damaging to this country. accordingly, i object.

the presiding officer: objection is heard. the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: i just went through a unanimous consent request. all are important to our national security. we're talking about ambassadors. we're talking about career people that we depend upon for advice, for handling conflict areas, it is in our national security interest to get these nominees confirmed. they have been held off for a year in some cases. i understand the right of individual senators, but i would just urge my colleagues we have a responsibility to being the a on these nomination -- we have a responsibility to act on these nominations and i would urge my colleagues to work with us. i applaud senator corker. he has moved these nominations through the committee. and for these reasons i would urge my colleagues to work with us so we can get these individuals serving our country. they're public servants and deserve our consideration. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon.

mr. merkley: right at this moment there are senators of this esteemed body that are doing something that is not so he is -- not so esteemed. they are working to put into some of the must-pass legislation that we will be considering today and in the days to come, something known as the dark act. the dark act is to deny americans the right to know act. it takes away the ability of states to make sure that the citizens of their state have the knowledge they would like to have about the food they eat. now we've seen in the toxics discussion here in the senate how important it is to individual states to have the ability to identify for their citizens what is in the everyday household products that they have, their spoons and their plates, their bedding and so forth. but it is much more important, it is an order of magnitude more

important to citizens to have the right at the state level to decide how to inform individuals about what is in the food they eat. so this proposal to put the dark act, taking away the rights of states, taking away the rights of citizens to use their democracy to be able to know what is in the food they eat is being proposed to be put into a bill in the dark of night. well, the dark act should never go into legislation in this senate, and it should never be considered airdropped in in the dark of night into must-pass legislation. it should be debated openly in committee, thoroughly vetted, thoroughly considered, because that certainly is the type of consideration as merited by issues so fundamental to citizens as knowledge about the food they eat and the food their children eat. let us not as a united states

senate commit such a disgraceful act as taking away the state right and this individual desire to have knowledge about the fundamental food that we consume. let us not have that airdropped in the dark of night. that would be a huge mistake. and i yield the floor. mr. mccain: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: i have four unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. i ask unanimous consent these requests be agreed to and these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: mr. president, it's now been over five years since president obama signed into law the so-called affordable care act, a sweeping health care overhaul that passed this chamber without a single republican vote. while legislation as important as this should have been held to the highest standard and

including broad bipartisan support, president obama, and then the 60 vote congressional delegates relied on fuzzy math to jam through this enormous unwieldy health care measure that the american people overwhelmingly oppose. such unilateral action has become president obama's signature domestic policy legacy. but today, today all that bullying and brinkmanship comes to a screeching halt. the legislation we'll vote on today takes a critical step forward in lifting the burden that obamacare has placed on hardworking citizens across the country who have been saddled by rising premiums, increased health care costs and reduced access to doctors and hospitals. it continues our long fight, our long fight to repeal this harmful law and build a bridge to health care solutions that work. since obamacare's enactment, americans have been left wondering what happened to all

the promises that promise to remove obstacles to retaining coverage, the president's promise to reduce premiums by up to $2,500 for a typical family, his promise to maintain existing providers. remember if you like your doctor, you can keep them. his promise to prevent any form of new tax increases. a promise to increase competition and provide greater choice. despite all of the president's assurances, obamacare has been full of empty promises that hav made our nation's health care problems worse. one of the reasons why i voted against obamacare was because despite being portrayed as affordable, there were numerous predictions that americans across the country would be faced with increased health care costs. guess what? such predictions have become reality. just as recently as this past summer, the president promised that under obamacare, health

insurance premium increases would be, quote, modest. this is despite the fact that state insurance regulators and actuaries were predicting the exact opposite outcome. let's take a look at how modest these cost increases will be for my home state of arizona. data released last month by the department of health and human services shows that americans enrolled in the federal marketplace will see an average premium increase of at least 7.5%, for the second lowest so-called silver plans, known as benchmark plans. in arizona, 24 exchange plans will see double-digit rate hikes in 2016. in phoenix, premium increases are projected to stop 19%, the highest average premium increase in my home state is projected to reach a whopping 78 l%.

-- 78%. my constituents in arizona call and write me daily -- daily -- begging and pleading that something be done to alleviate the financial hardship of obamacare. thomas from flagstaff wrote me his monthly premiums jumped from $200 a month to $600 a month. jim, a r.e.s. -- resident of arizona for 25 years jumped to $160 per week. it goes on and on. stories like these are unacceptable, while the colleagues on the other side of the aisle continue to describe obamacare as a success, families, patients, doctors and small businesses across america continue to suffer from the disastrous effects of the president's failed health care law. today i am proud to once again stand with my republican colleagues as we continue the fight to repeal and replace

obamacare. from the start, i opposed this sweeping scope of the health care law and proudly propose the first republican amendment to obamacare in 2009 which would have prevented the president from slashing medicare by a half a trillion dollars. since then, i have continued my efforts by sponsoring numerous other pieces of legislation that would lift the burden that has been placed on individuals and small businesses alike. most recently, i introduced the obamacare opt-out act with senator barrasso. this congress which would give americans the freedom to opt out of the individual mandate for health insurance coverage required by obamacare. it is critical that we eliminate this costly mandate which is estimated to cost americans who decide not to enroll in obamacare roughly $695 per adult and $347 per child in 2016 and

even more in the years ahead. this legislation we will vote on today takes an even bigger step forward in freeing americans from the harmful effects of this law. it provides relief to individuals and employers alike by eliminating costly penalties for those who fail to comply with obamacare's mandate. it repeals draconian tax increases like the medical device tax and the cadillac tax that have made health care more expensive and driven innovative companies to move critical operations and research and development overseas. it ensures americans will not experience any disruption in their health care coverage by delaying the implementation date by two years, and most importantly it gets the government out of the way and puts patients in charge on their health care decisions and needs. the fact is we can repeal and

replace obamacare with health care policies that work. for years, i have underscored commonsense policy alternatives such as providing americans with a direct refundable tax credit to help them pay for private health care, expanding the benefits of health savings accounts, passing medical liability reform or -- quote -- tort reform, extending the freedom to purchase health care across state lines. these are proposals that would provide immediate relief to americans and my fellow arizonans who have been left to choose between buying groceries or paying for health insurance under obamacare. perhaps the greatest flaw in president obama's health care law is that it has severely limited consumers' access to quality care. today limited access is now commonplace, costs are increasing and government prats remain at the center of an individual's health care

decisions, which clear that any serious attempt to improve our health care system must begun with -- begin with full repeal and replacement of obamacare, a mission i remain fully committed to fighting on behalf of the people of arizona. i urge my colleagues to vote yes on this critically important bill today that will build a bridge from the president's broken promises to a better health care system for hardworking families in arizona and across the country. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. enzi: mr. president, i ask consent that during the vote series related to h.r. 3762, there be two minutes equally divided between each vote and that the first votes in the series be in relation to the murray amendment 2876, and the johnson amendment 2875, with the 60-vote affirmative threshold required for adoption. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. enzi: i yield the floor. mr. blumenthal: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: mr. president, we're on the verge of a series of votes. it also is a few days from the anniversary, the third anniversary of the hideous and horrific shootings at sandy hook. once again, the unspeakable has happened in america. the mass murder in san bernadino reminds us of the inaction by this body. congress becomes complicit, in fact has become complicit by its inaction in this mass slaughter which continues in america. and yet, listening to the debate on the floor, one would think it's business as usual. we're debating whether to repeal the affordable care act. again, how many times have we

voted on that? how many times have we voted to defund planned parenthood? and yet, what we see on the floor of the senate and throughout congress is a shrug of the shoulders. it can't be done, won't be done. now is the time for action. we are past the point of platitudes and prayers. we need them. san bernadino deserves them. but prayers, thoughts, our hearts need to be matched by action. the time for action is now. on sensible, commonsense measures that will make america safer and better. there is no single solution, no panacea for gun violence, but inaction is not an option.

a shrug of the shoulders is not acceptable. that's not what we were elected to do. we were elected to act and provide solutions. strong laws such as we have in connecticut are a good start, but state laws-not prevent guns from crossing borders from states without strong laws. the states with the strongest laws are at the mercy of states with the weakest protection, because borders are porous. and the question today is -- in america is what will it take? 30,000 deaths a year? a mass shooting every day? counting mass shootings as four individuals or more shot. what will it take for this body

to act? we are not going away. we are not giving up. we are not abandoning this fight. we're on the right side of history, and we will prevail. today will be an opportunity to show which side we are on, and i urge my colleagues to support the sensible commonsense amendments which will take a step by no means a complete or even fully adequate step, but at least a step in the right direction. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. mr. enzi: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. enzi: mr. president, this week we have been debating the future of obamacare, which still remains unworkable, unaffordable

and more unpopular than ever. for millions of americans, the law today represents nothing more than broken promises, higher costs and fewer choices. recent polling shows that most americans still oppose this unprecedented expansion of government intrusion into health care decisions for hardworking families and small businesses, and that's why leader mcconnell promised that we would send a bill to the president's desk repealing obamacare using budget reconciliation, and that's exactly what we're doing. there is a special provision under the budget that allows us to send a bill to the desk with a majority of votes in the house and a majority of votes in the senate. the majority of votes in the house has occurred now we're debating changes to that bill. with that, i would ask that the balance of my remarks be included in the record as though given and i would yield the floor to the senator from iowa. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. grassley: i didn't realize i had time to speak. mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: how much time is there before we vote? employment there is five minutes. mr. grassley: okay. i rise to speak about the 2014 farm bill and attempts to change it by members of this congress. the farm bill process was long, hard and frustrating process. nobody got everything they wanted. i believe our country needs good farm policy, which means an adequate, yet limited safety net for farmers. our farmers face real uncontrollable risks every year. the farm bill provides farmers with a number of programs. they help mitigate those risks. that is why i was very concerned when i learned that the budget deal was cutting $3 billion from the federal crop insurance program. that cut would have forced the risk management agency at usda to renegotiate the standard reinsurance agreement next year

and save $300 million. these cuts were almost universally opposed by rural america. lenders, commodity groups, input suppliers and many others oppose the cuts to the crop insurance program. beyond being bad policy, i opposed the crop insurance cuts because like many of my colleagues on both the house and senate agriculture committee, i do not support reopening the 2014 farm bill, and reopening the 2014 farm bill is the issue that i'm talking about. i'm very glad the highway bill is going to reverse the cuts in crop insurance program. i also want to speak to the importance of not reopening the farm bill and now something coming up in the next week or so. section 739 of the house agriculture appropriations bill reauthorizes commodity certificates. for those who don't remember what commodity certificates are, they're a way around payment limits. the language in the house bill

specifically directs usda to administer commodity certificates as they were in 2008, seven years ago when they were not subject to any payment limitations. i want to be very clear so that there is no misunderstanding by those in this body or the agriculture lobby. section 739 of the house agriculture appropriation bill brings back commodities certificates which send us what none of us want to do, reopen the 2014 farm bill. if the agriculture community wants to be taken seriously, seriously like keeping crop insurance from being changed in the middle of the farm bill, then they ought to heed our advice and not reopen the farm bill by reauthorizing commodity certificates. i hope tomorrow i don't have to oppose commodity certificates in the omnibus because a few people want to reinstate unlimited farm

subsidies. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. the presiding officer: there will now be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to amendment number 2876, offered by the senator from washington, mrs. murray. mrs. murray: mr. president, thank you. i am well aware that there are serious disagreements between

republicans and democrats when it comes to women's health. but i would hope that despite our disagreements, they would at least allow us to vote on the important amendment that i have introduced to strike the harmful language defunding planned parenthood from this legislation and replace it with a new fund to support women's health care and clinic safety for staff and patients. unfortunately, apparently my republican colleagues are going to choose intoday is just simply push this -- choose instead to just simply push this amendment aside and everything with it we're doing for women and families. mr. president, planned parenthood doctors and staff are not going to be pushed aside. even by the ticial violence we've seen all too often at women's health clinics, they are keeping their doors open. and the women and families who rely on these centers for their care and who believe that women should be able to make their own choices aren't letting the political attacks we've seen today get in their way. they are standing up for what they believe. and while republicans may want

to avoid taking this tough vote, democrats are going to keep making it very clear exactly where we stand. the presiding officer: the senator's time has expired. mrs. murray: with women across the country and i urge my colleagues to vote against the tabling amendment. mr. enzi: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. enzi: i urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment. senator murray proposes to establish a new women's health care and clinic safety and security fund to ensure that, among other goals, all women and men have access to health care services without threat of violence. no one disagrees with the goal of making sure that all americans have access to health care without fearing threats or violence. we certainly don't condone any of the violence anywhere in the united states. the best way to ensure that women and men have affordable health care is to pass this repeal bill and repeal obamaca obamacare. for every american, obamacare has meant more government, more bureaucracy and more rules and regulations along with soaring

health care costs and less access to care. the most effective solution to improving quality and access to women's health care is to lower the cost and provide access to health care, t not to create another fund with another new tax. obamacare already contains more than $1 trillion in new taxes. the presiding officer: the senator's time has expired. mr. enzi: in duplicate programs. i'd yield back any time. evidently there is none, and i would move to terrible the murray amendment number 2876 and ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the question is on the motion to table. the clerk will call the roll. vo:

vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, the yeas -- on the motion, the yeas are 54 and the

nays are 46. the motion to table is agreed to. mr. enzi: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. enzi: mr. president, i ask consent that the remaining votes be ten minutes in length -- the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. the senator from wyoming. mr. enzi: i ask consent that the remaining votes be ten minutes in length and that following amendments be in order following disposition of the johnson amendment: the brown-wyden number 2883 and then collins 2885. the presiding officer: without objection. there will now be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to amendment number 2875 offered by the senator from wisconsin, mr. johnson. mr. johnson: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wisconsin. mr. johnson: mr. president, i call for order. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. johnson: on june 15, 2009, president obama went to the

american medical association to sell his health care plan to the doctors and the american people. president obama addressed the doctors and he said, i quote, "i know that there are millions of americans who are content with their health care coverage, that they like their plan and most importantly at he they value their relationship with their doctor. they trust you and that means no matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise to the american people: if you like your doctor, you'll be able to keep your doctor, period. if you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan, period. no one will take that away no matter what. now, mr. president, we all know unfortunately that promise has been broken. so many people who supported the bill made that similar promise. but politifact called that promise something else. they called it its 2013 lie of the year. my amendment would restore that promise. my amendment would keep that