they care about entrepreneurship in science and technology, education exchange. we develop a whole bunch of programs that is rooted in entrepreneurship and science and technological change because it gives us a place and a weight of a conversation with people and build networks with people that goes beyond just simply talking to them about nuclear proliferation and terrorism which we have talked about because we are the united states of america. some of it is diversity enceladus is thinking through from messaging perspective who am i talking to and how i can look at the united states and what are they interested in doing? that's something i think we can do more up. >> i think we are just about out of time. you bought, barbara, to take one last? maybe we -- [inaudible] first in line.

>> i will be quick. i'm from puerto rico and an alumni. many of my countrymen in the last of the union address were hoping that obama was going to talk about the economic hardships puerto rico is facing, especially because as you have said, obama administration brokered peace deals with cuba. the caribbean is also changing. cuba policy has i think i to the puerto rican policy. hoping that obama will be difference because of his uniqueness, and just recently beginning this year is a big landmark case is about puerto rican bankruptcy law. so my question is,. [inaudible] want if it was, why was it taken out? if you could just share your thoughts about this issue. >> made we can just take the other two questions also and

then you can divide up that what everyone has a chance. >> i was wanted by the greatest expense was working at the white house? >> and the last one. >> first your asian studies program at the school board services outages want to give an effective so making for north korea today's want to bring up very briefly and what is the next step for the united states and allies and partners in the region? do think the policy of the strategic patience will be viable -- viable options for north korea for further administrations? think you. >> order we go, and again i don't work directly on that issue. i think in the context of his state of the union the president did set out to this be a different state of the union. i think in previous years he probably would have dealt with puerto rico and the state of union but he did not want to give a traditional kind of set oapolicy proposal and responseso policy issues.

because it's his last one he wanted to step back and address these big themes that get that kind of the direction of the country generally. and so that makes it harder to pull very important issue to their are very important issues, one, the president talked about all the time, my brothers keeper initiative with young african-american man wasn't in the state of the union. because this was a cinematic treatment of what are these big things we have to get right. puerto rico is a very important policy issue but, frankly, those more symptom of the nature of how this is a different state of the union. you didn't find a lot of policy in it. even specific issues but more fanatic. i wonder north korea next. -- i will give north korea next. i think that the strategic patience point is made as if there's an alternative that is going to make them denuclearize

in the near-term timeframe and this is another issue where it just is the case that we are not going to precipitate like a conflict on the korean peninsula. so than any policy response is calibrating the mix of what diplomatic and economic pressure can reply on north korea, how can we work with china to apply more pressure on north korea? because that's its principal lifeline. how can we apply our own capabilities in terms of missile defense and our posture in northeast asia so that were best prepared to protect our allies and our own territory? so this is an area where the effective, you are a range of tools we have to try to apply pressure and create openings with the north koreans.

it's really the calibration of these tools. part of a we can get right is we've encouraged japan and south korea to work more collaboratively with one another as well as those. i think we've made progress with that recently. we would like the chinese to apply more pressure. i think there is what they can do vis-à-vis the north koreans. i think anybody tells you there's a quick solution to this issue is not confront the reality that this is something we will just have to set the table, apply the pressure, great the offerings for north korea, and take care of our own defense capabilities in northeast asia. because, precise because of this, the level of threat it poses. lastly in terms of moments, this moment in the white house, it's hard to point to one. for me personally, and then cuba

was a particular high point just because i have worked on it for a long time. all these things had to kind of come together on these over 17. last year we had to do for two years ago, we had to do a prisoner exchange. we had to announce, coordinated announcement of the normalization. cuba had a place of the oppressors and take some other steps. part of what made that meaningful to me, this is a good note to end on, i heard in the coming weeks from people who would say, you know, i never thought that i would want to, one person told me that they never wanted, they were kind of hardline on the cuba issue. then they went to cuba for the first time after our

announcement, and they did not there going to do. it was a cuban-american. this person told me that he felt completely at peace. like he felt like something had reconciled for him. and i third the individual cubans who say that they changed their future. they had kind of a ceiling they saw on the future that change. the point is about the our individual people's lives who are tied up in all this. i've talked to a mr. heck my sister, and sitting with tears in her eyes describe her twin brother. we have these debates in washington as if there's a football game going on, or this is some exercise in who can sound the best on the news. but like to our individual lives underneath all of these debates

and all these decisions. the things that have given me the most satisfaction is when you realize something the president has done has made somebody's life better. >> that's a wonderful note to end on. thank you for being so very generous with our audience this afternoon, and thank you for your service. >> thank you. [applause] >> the senate is in recess for a few more minutes for weekly party caucus lunches your they will be back in a 50 minute and then proceed to vote on a bill that bars syrian and iraqi refugees from entering the country until background checks have become that they're not a threat to national so good the house passed the bill in the summer. the white house says it opposes the measure. here's democratic leader harry reid's comments on the bill from earlier today. >> republican leader said he is

going to bring in and has brought to the floor house passed refugee bill, he calls the. immigration bill of course. he said yesterday that the debate over the bill should be based on quote facts and commonsense. mr. president, i agree with that. the facts speak for themselves. our enemy is 30 defined. isis is the defined organization. a terrorist organization that poses a threat to the united states, women, children and families fleeing persecution are not the enemy. it's isis. we should be focusing al our efforts on defeating a real enemy, the brutal evil isis. yet this bill, republican leader is bringing to the floor, scapegoats refugees for fleeing

war, torture instead of creative solutions to keep americans safe. you don't have to take my word for it. the junior senator from arizona has said he will oppose the bill because it is, i quote, intended to knock out all refugees. and i'm not there. i quote, intended to knock out all refugees entrance, and i'm not there. so says the junior senator from arizona. national security experts from democratic republican administrations have warned against advancing bills like this. i said nationals could experts, both democrats and republicans. someone said secretary bill gates. secretary bill gates is such a

good person. i enjoyed working with the very much. he said yesterday in words much stronger that i am going to say right now, republicans running for president don't understand the issue. don't understand the issue. and he's much stronger and more firm in saying how ridiculous it is what they are talking about. by the way he was republican. president obama has always been very, very clear that he will veto this legislation. as written in this bill will not be signed into law. some say it is a waste of our time. by advancing this bill republicans are creating a terrible distraction for the hateful rhetoric vitriol the republican standardbearers donald trump and ted cruz. but i guess this should come as no surprise to anyone. over and over again republicans

remain committed to pledging loyalty to the divisive platform that has been built on the republican, people running for president led by this stage donald trump. we believe we must destroy isis. and he went on of the aisle believes we should destroy isis and defend our nation, but we believe we can publish this goal without compromising american core principles. sadly, many leading republicans are opposed policy the compromise our fundamental rights that threaten the integrity of our great nation. democrats are committed to -- violent views of donald trump and providing american people with solutions that make our nation safer. we think it's way past time for the senate to vote on these policies. my friend, the republican leader, has pledged over and over again that republicans,

when they led the senate, they thrive under an open and in the process. for example, he said my time as majority leader, the open-ended process is going to be the rule rather than the exception. my friend continue to say that tough vote should be expected, and i quote, let us take our chances. we are big men and women, prepare to vote on proposals that are offered from both sides, closed quote. senate republicans are prepared to abide by this, senate democrats will seek to advance a limited number of amendments. on this bill that is before this body. not scores of amendments, but four or five amendments. for example, we could have won that dramatically increase the

funding for local police anti-terror efforts at airport security. that's when we want. they are overworked and underresourced. we can close the terror gun loophole, tears on the no-fly list, able to buy firearms, explosives or radiological material as has been attempted. we would offer an intimate to denounce donald trump reprehensible proposal, religious admission to the united states. and there's a bill that's been filed called the democratic isis security bill. it's a very important piece of legislation. it would come it includes keeping guns out of the hands of terrorists, stopping radicalization here in the united states. it would include active shooter training. as i indicated already, part of this bill that we would not want

to move forward as a substitute, airport security and preventing dirty bomb. now, these are the amendments that we feel confident based on the statement that my friends made. we are not asking for unlimited amendments. i have listed for here. now, mr. president, republican leaders -- >> as democratic leader harry reid from earlier. we take you back live now to the same as members are returning for 15 minutes of wrap up debate on the syrian refugees bill and a vote coming up at 2:30 p.m. eastern. supplemental certifications and background investigations be completed prior to the admission of certain aliens as refugees and for other purposes. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the time until 2:30 p.m. will be equally divided between the two leaders or their designees.

the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mr. burr: mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be equally divided between both sides, and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. without objection. quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask the quorum call -- the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. mcconnell: i ask the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. by unanimous consent the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the clerk will report the motion to inadvocate cloture.

the clerk: cloture motion. we the undersigned senators in in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate to motion to proceed to 300, an act to require that supplemental certifications and background investigations be completed prior to the admission of certain aliens as refugees and for other purposes. signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: the question is is it the sense of the senate that debate on the motion to proceed to proceed to h.r. 4038, an act to require that supplemental certifications and background investigations be completed prior to the admission of certain aliens as refugees and for other purposes shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule and the clerk will now call the roll. vote:

vote: vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, on this vote, the yeas are 5, the nays are 43. three-fifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted in the affirmative, the motion is not agreed to. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i call for regular order with respect to the veto message on s.j. res. 22. the presiding officer: the veto message is the pending business. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk on the veto message. mr. mcconnell: the clerk will report. 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 veto message on s.j. res. 22, a joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval of the rule submitted by the corps of engineers and so forth signed by 17 senators -- mr. mcconnell: i ask that the reading of the names be dispensed with. officer without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: and i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule 2, the cloture motion be set at 10:30 a.m. on thursday, january 21. further, if cloture is not invoked, the veto message be indefinitely postponed. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. coons: mr. president, i ask proceedings under the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. coons: mr. president, six months ago, world powers reached an agreement to constrain iran's

nuclear program and to give us a path forward towards constraining iran's nuclear ambitions. and while the international community has taken some positive steps to implement this agreement and to limit iran's nuclear program and while iran has recently taken positive steps to observe and implement this agreement, we must do much more to strictly enforce this deal and aggressively push back on iran's bad behavior outside the deal's parameters. if we don't, this nuclear agreement may not survive into next year. this past weekend was an convenientful one for u.s. foreign policy and, in particular, u.s. policy towards iran. saturday marked implementation day of this nuclear deal, also known as the joint comprehensive plan of action, or the jcpoa. implementation day is important because it means that the international atomic energy agency, or the iaea, has

certified that iran has completed a whole series of tasks required as part of the nuclear agreement. the four most important of those tasks is, first, that it has shipped 12 tons of enriched uranium, nearly its entire stockpile, which took iran a decade to amass, out of the country to a secure facility supervised by the iaea around the clock. second, it means iran has reduced the number of its functioning centrifuges, centrifuges it uses to enrich uranium, by nearly two-thirds, from roughly 19,000 to a little more than 6,000, and has accepted long-term limits on developing, testing and deploying new centrifuges. third, it means that iran has provided the iaea with unprecedented 24/7 access to monitor all of its nuclear-related facilities and that's not just enrichment facilities, that's uranium miles mines, you're rain july mills, centrifuge production facilities, every known and declared site within iran

connected to its nuclear program. this level of access far exceeds previous iaea authorities in countries suspected of trying to develop a nuclear weapon. and, fourth, and to me in some ways most importantly, iran has filled the core of its irac heavy duty water reactor with concrete, permanently disabling the most likely short-term path iran had to producing weapons-grade pliew tone yuvment had iraq proceeded, had iran been able to produce significant qualities of weapons-grade plutonium, our ability to intervene would have are been significantly harder. plutonium is one of the most lethal toxic substances known to man and any attack on a heavy water reactor producing plutonium would have had horrible consequences not just in iran but throughout the entire region. so blocking iran's short-term pathway through uranium enrichment, through plutonium enrichment is a significant step

forward. and does reflect significant restraints on iran's nuclear weapons program. as a result of the conditions on this deal that i just referenced, the time it would take tehran to break out and to dash towards a nuclear weapon, to amass all the for his i'll material -- fissile material needed for a bomb has been extended significantly from just two to three months to a year or more. but these positive developments come with substantial risks. principally among them the tens of billions of dollars in sanctions relief that iran will now receive for complying with the terms of the deal. tens of billions of dollars of iranian assets which have long been frozen in bank accounts around the world through an american-led international sanctions effort will now be released.that's why america and our international partners must continue toaggressively enforce the terms of the deal and make sure that iran remains in compliance with every's spectd

oevery aspect ofthe agreement. our work is more difficult than at any point before. we can be confident in the coming months and years, the iranians will test the boundaries of the deal and will probe our every response. indeed, they already have. if we fail to respond more swiftly and more vigorously to these iranian provocations, iran will nibble away at the deal's restrictions and gradually undermine the international coalition that put it together. every minor violation that we permit,every violation that we tolerate damages our credibility and gives iran tacit permission to continue its breaches of the agreement. given this stark, this difficult reality, our efforts to deter iranian aggression must not be limited to just enforcing the nuclear deal, the jcpoa. rather, our efforts must be part of a coherent, unified regional strategy to contain iran and to push back on its bad behavior in the middle east. a task made even more difficult because of its newfound access

to assets previously frozen. that comprehensive effort to counter and contain iran must include a willingness to take unilateral action, by imposing new sanctions on iran for destabilizing actions both inside and outside the parameters of the nuclear agreement. that brings me to the second important development of just this past weekend. additional sanctions designations to punish iran for its ballistic missile test. last fall, in clear violation of united nations security council resolution 1929, iran conducted two ballistic missile tests, one on october 10, one on november 21. since then, i and many of my colleagues have been calling on the obama administration to punish iran for these disrupti disruptive, dangerous and blatantly illegal actions. over the weekend, the administration took action by designating for sanctions 11 additional individuals and business entities involved in supporting iran's ballistic missile program. these sanctions follow a series

of steps previously attend by the treasury department last -- taken by the treasury department last fall to sanctions other iranians and iranian linked individuals for a litany of other dangerous and illegal activities. supporting hezbollah agents who threaten israel. supplying financial aid and support to the houthi rebels in lebanon and the regime in syria. and the list goes on. it is important for all of us on a bipartisan basis to remind our allies throughout the world that american-led sanctions against iran for its human rights violations, for its ballistic missile program, for its support of terrorism remain in effect and will be vigorously enforced. from conducting these missile tests to supporting terrorism to continuing to deny the very existence of some basic human rights iran has shown time and again it will continue to flawt international rules and values. so the united states must continue to maintain its unilateral sanctions in these

areas and we must not hesitate to use these authorities. not just to punish iran for its immediate bad behavior but to send a clear signal to our allies in the region and throughout the world and to tehran that we are serious about holding iran accountable. of course implementation day and the imposition of sanctions of sanctions designations for iran's illegal ballistic missile test weren't the only significant developments of the new year. we also just learned this weekend that america would soon welcome home five innocent americans long held unlawfully by iran. these americans never should have been held in the first place and their release was long overdue. the negotiations to release these five americans occurred outside the parameters of the jcpoa. while we're grateful for their safe return, this release also raises some serious questions. we still don't know finally the status of retired f.b.i. agent robert levinson or his whereabouts. we don't know the whereabouts of

an iranian american industry executive arrested in october. and it is my hope that they are equally ceaseless efforts by the administration to bring them home. we have to ask what did we give up, what were the terms of the agreement, how did we make possible this release? a key part of this that is public is that while none of the seven iranians released were convicted of violence they were convicted of criminal acts. the 14 iranians who might have been convicted had charges against them dropped. the question we're going to have to pursue is what precedent did these prosecutor swap set for -- prisoner swap set for future dealings with the iranian regime. we must remember despite the limits imposed by the jcpoa, iran continues to destabilize the middle east and undermine america's goals for the region. iran's behavior since the jcpoa was signed has made it clear

that iron is neither -- that iran is neither america's friend nor allies and i think we must remain distrustful of the iranian regime. in addition to it's ballistic missile test the iranian revolutionary guard conducted dangerous u.s. military operations near u.s. ships most recently threatening the safety of u.s. sailors by conducting a live exercise barely a mile from the u.s.s. harry s. truman. iran detained american sailors in the gulf last week and did not treat them in a be manner consistent with naval forces rendering assistance at sea. while i'm pleased that our sailors were released safely, iran did use the images of those sailors for propaganda purposes in an attempt to sell its signal to the world to sell chaos to the region. we must not allow provocation to iran in the open gulf and throughout the region and i call on the administration and on my colleagues to support

significantly increased efforts at maritime interdictions in the gulf and throughout the broader region. we should conduct more joint military exercises with our valued allies and partners in the region to make it clear to iran that we will continue to pursue our electricity -- our interests. iran's distrust is i think the only path towards a safer, stronger middle east and an american presence as one of its regional leaders. mr. president, no one should mistake tehran's compliance with the terms of the nuclear agreement for a broader willingness to respect human rights and engage with the international community and the rules based order that we have helped lead since the second world war. i've seen nothing to indicate that the regime in tehran cares about the well-being of the iranian people much less the opinion of the world community. in october, for example, two iranian poets each received

ten-year sentences and 99 lashes for kissing members of the opposite sex and shaking their hands. that same month an iranian award-winning film maker was sentenced to six years in prison and 200 lashes on the charge of insulting sanctities. the film maker was making a documentary about an iranian artist based in europe who had been accused of blasphemy. nearly two thirds of the 12,000 candidates who applied to run in next month's parliamentary elections in iran withdrew or were dis qualified. oo iran's supreme leader said the americans set their eyes on our governance, whether it be in elections or on other issues and as before we will punch them in the mouth. mr. president, these are not the actions or the statements of a state that respects the rights of its people or that seeks friendship with the united states in the near future.

just two weeks ago i returned from a trip to saudi arabia, turkey, israel, and austria. i'm grateful to my colleague from new york, senator gillibrand, for organizing this trip which included important meetings with nuclear inspectors from the iaea. we met with their leadership in their headquarters in vienna and meetings with israeli prime minister netanyahu and turkish president erdogan. the message we heard was simple, powerful and clear. america must reassure our allies that with we will not waiver in our commitment to push back on iran and destabilizing actions in the region. our partners, our allies and iran must know and believe through our words and our actions that we are serious about the long-term stability of the middle east and thairn, a revolution -- and that iran does

not share our values or our goal. as part of that effort we must reassure and strengthen support for our ally israel as the administration promotes an understanding to provide israel with the security it needs to protect itself. we must insist that joint u.s. and israeli strategic planning includes protection of israel from threats it faces from neighboring instability in syria. we must not allow israel to be attacked by hezbollah, hamas. we must work closely with the israelis to share intelligence and intercept weapons shipments from iran to its regional proxies. if we fail to push back in iran and enforce the terms of the nuclear deal, not only will the agreement collapse but our efforts to show the world that diplomacy can actually work will be dealt a dangerous blow as well. in the weeks and months to come, i call on the administration to do more to push back on iran and i call on my colleagues, republicans and democrats alike,

to come together to be engaged and to remain focused on enforcing the terms of this nuclear agreement, on containing iran and on deterring their bad behavior, their support for terrorism, their support for human rights violations and their relentless effort to develop an advanced ballistic missile capability. as i said before on this floor, the iranian government has long paid very close attention to everything america says and more closely to what america does. never has that been more true than today. never has that been more urgent than today. as the regime gains access to greater resources, we must not take our eye off iran. thank you, mr. president. and i yield the floor. # a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from indiana.

mr. coats: mr. president, as the presiding officer knows, throughout the last years' sessions, i would come to the senate floor every week and talk about a waste of the week. that was in 2015 and we did nearly 30 of those in the 30 weeks that the senate was in session. maybe skipped one or two here. it's 2016, we're in a new year and i'm back for the 2016 version of waste of the week. and the reason i'm doing this is because trying to bring to the attention of my colleagues and to the american people the fact that the government is not spending its, their hard-earned tax dollars in a most efficient, effective way that they could. in fact, by highlighting these various uses of expenditures here in washington and abuses of that spending, we alert them to

the fact that there are savings, significant savings that can be made. in 2015, we totaled up to nearly $130 billion of demonstrated examples of waste, fraud and abuse, money that was spent for no purpose whatsoever or for a purpose that certainly didn't qualify for the use of taxpayer dollars. and the abuse of that spending and the fraud that went along with it. and this is just scratching the surface. as the presiding officer knows, because he was very much a part of this, since 2010, there has been a significant effort, much of it bipartisan effort, to try to deal with the long-range plunge into evermore spending and evermore debt that is plaguing our country, holding down our ability to grow as an economy and will have long-term consequences, negative

consequences on our generation, and particularly on future generations. so whether is it was simpson-bowles or domenici-riff domenici-riff -- rivlin or gang of 12 or dinner of 6, many efforts were made to try to work with the administration to address the long-term problem and eventually each one of those failed. i'm not here to pose blame on anyone. it would be easy to do. we had a very difficult problem working with the administration. sometimes we had differences between our two parties here. but there was general recognition, universal recognition that we couldn't continue down the same path of excessive spending, more than we received in revenues every year after year after year, a frightening plunge into ever

greater debt. when this administration took office, the national debt accumulated over, well over 200 years of the existence of this country. that debt had nearly doubled in the time, in the eight years this administration has been in office and will virtually double before that term is up. it's unsustainable. the congressional budget office, which is a neutral agency -- it has nothing to do with republicans or democrats or politics -- it simply gives us the numbers and the numbers tell the story. and those numbers are frightening when you look at the degree to which we continue to plunge into debt. in fact, the congressional budget office just released its latest report which said coming deficits will be more than 20% larger than previously forecast. previously forecast just last august. the recalculation, depending on, which was related to some of the actions taken here in congress

regarding spending, the calculation has to be changed and it's going to be 20% more than what they had projected just a fuel months ago. we're looking, as they say, $1 trillion deficits on the horizon. and here's the most startling of their ten recommendations and notices to us, in my mind. in ten years -- i'm quoting -- "99% of all the revenue that comes in to the federal government, accumulation of everyone's tax -- all the money that flows into washington through user fees, excise fees, withholding taxes from your paycheck, the taxes you pay every april or whether you pay a quarterly tax, every tax out there accumulating, 99% of that will go to mandatory spending and net interest spending. now, if you're for a stronger defense, if you're for better

research capability at the national institutes of health, if you're for funding the communications disease program run out of atlanta, if your interest is education, social welfare, if you look at any of the programs, hundreds of programs if not thousands of programs that various interests have here, if 99% of the revenues coming in are going to things that we have no control over, mandatory spending, which is social security, medicare, medicaid essentially, only 1% is left to divide up among everything else the federal government does. that is totally -- building roads, fixing bridges, grants to cities, environmental interests, and addressing those. on and on and on we could go. if 99% is going to spending over we can't control -- simply

paying interest on the debt -- and covering the entitlement spending -- social security, medicare and medicaid -- it's unsustainable. those efforts have failed, and it's a pox on all of our houses. we tried mightily, had no ability to bring it to conclusion. that has been kind of pushed off the table. we really didn't talk about that much in the last year of this congress. the focus was on other issues, but this looming catastrophe that will happen based on nothing but numbers,' right met i can and facts, happening sooner than anybody can anticipate, cannot be put aside. but having failed in those major efforts and as long as this president is in office, it appears that we're going to not be successful this year. it's going to be up --