[inaudible conversations] >> thank you very much, thank you for being here. [inaudible conversations] >> thank you very much. bruce will take it. thank you, good luck, thank you very much. how are you doing? thank you for being here. >> i will be giving it to you later. >> what is your name? how old are you? and 9? do you want to get a picture?

>> we are praying for you, we really are. we could be everyday. >> thank you. >> honored to meet you. >> how wonderful. born in virginia. >> thank you very much, thank you for being here. you want to get a picture? thank you. >> thank you so much. >> god bless you, thank you.

thank you very much, god bless you, thanks for being here. >> how are you? [inaudible conversations] >> of we doing this? right here? thank you very much. thank you for being here. thank you very much. thank you for being here. >> very good. iron did a report on you f did

american government class. >> what is your name? >> mchale not michaelson. >> thank you. [inaudible conversations] >> thank you very much. >> a high-tech camera. >> thank you very much. thank you very much. [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] >> press the little white button, come on, sweetie. >> how are you doing? >> thanks. >> how are you doing? >> thanks for coming, thank you, a i appreciate it. we are going to do it together. >> week the people, that is what this campaign is all about.

>> thank you. >> right here. >> that way first. thank you very much. >> god bless. thank you. thank you very much. >> we gave you a $100 bills the other night. oh my goodness. thank you so much. thank you. >> thank you for everything. >> my mom's birthday today. her name is kathy. i am here with senator ted cruz, our future president and he has something to tell you. >> happy birthday, have a wonderful birthday celebrating with your family, don't forget to come out and caucus.

>> can you tell us -- [inaudible conversations] >> a president who has integrity. >> right there. >> thank you, wish you all the best. thank you. which way, this way? [inaudible conversations] >> david mark cohen. >> martin and david marden.

>> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> my name is katie. >> a sticker on your forehead, how did that happen? >> you have pretty eyes. i like a little kitty cat hat. you guys have a beautiful family. thank you so much. >> thank you.

[inaudible conversations] >> turn around. >> excellent, it take care, god bless. >> more road to the white house coverage today, republican senator ted cruz holds a pro bike rally with rick perry in des moines, iowa. live coverage at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. after that carly fiorina hold the town hall meeting in iowa, live at 8:30 eastern also on c-span. on c-span2 actress and activist susan sarandon joins bernie sanders at a campaign event in iowa.

live coverage at 7:00 p.m. eastern. >> c-span campaign 2016, the road to the white house for the iowa caucus, monday february 1st, live coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. eastern and c-span and c-span2, bringing live caucus coverage taking phone calls, tweets and texts, and the republican caucus on c-span and a democratic caucus on c-span2. live in its entire ecommerce stay with c-span and join the conversation with c-span radio and c-span.org. >> hillary clinton was in marshalltown, iowa where she spoke to 400 voters in a middle school. this is about 50 minutes. >> please welcome hillary clinton. [cheers and applause]

>> thank you all so much! thank you! you are great! thank you! oh my goodness! it was worth it. you have been so generous with your time. grateful to be back at marshall count, a chance to talk with you less than a week on monday night. it is meaningful to me, and to be part of this process and i am grateful to each and every one of you, i learned a lot in the last month, spending all this time, small groups and big ones, is going to make me a better president. thank you for everything you have done to make that possible.

i want to thank mark smith for his endorsement. i am thrilled. thank you so very much, representative. i have a plan that i hope will come to pass when it affects mark and that is i hope that we will be able to make him the majority leader of the house of representatives in the state legislature. think of all the good things that he could do for you and for people across iowa. it is getting close. when all of you decide to go caucus on monday you are going to be the first people in the world to get to express an opinion about who should be the next president and commander in chief for our country and i know

how seriously i would take this because i bet talking with you and listening to you, i want to spend a few minutes discussing what is at stake because this is one of the most consequential elections we have had in quite some time. when you think about it, there are some very big differences between us and the republicans and that puts a special responsibility on you and voters to tried to decide where you stand. i will tell you where i stand. i believe that the republican policies that are being promoted by this group of candidates that are traveling across our state and country would set our country back, rip up the progress we have made and undermine our future. that is true across the board, but let me pick a few of the

most important issues. let's take the economy. you heard from them. they are spouting the same failed economic policies, trickle-down economics, cut taxes on the wealthy, get out of the way of corporations. we have tried that. it does not work. it is important to know the facts. the facts are that our economy does better when we have a democrat in the white house who cares about creating jobs and raising incomes for americans. [applause] >> the last two democratic presidents we had, both of whom i know, which i kind of am proud of, they each inherited economic problems from their republican predecessorss. my husband's case it was a recession, and huge national

debt that had been quadrupled in the prior 12 years and a big deficit. in washington people said what do you bring to washington that can make a difference? i bring arithmetic. we are going to make it at up again for the american people. at the end of eight years we did. 23 million new jobs but most importantly in comes went up for everybody, not just those at the top. hard working middle-class families, working families, poor families, more people were lifted out of poverty than in recent time in history. and we end ed up with a balanced budget and a surplus. we were on the right track. back came the republicans and back came trickle-down economics. george w. bush cut taxes on wealthy and got out of the way of corp.s to the extent that the man he put in charge of keeping an eye on wall street took a

chain saw to a big stack of regulations and had a big smile on his face. we know what happened, don't we? we went into the greatest financial crisis since the great depression. and when barack obama became president we were losing 800,000 jobs a month. i don't think president obama gets the credit he deserves for digging us out of that big ditch the republicans put us in during their administration. it was not easy. i know. i talked to him about it when he asked me to be secretary of state, he said we got to focus on the economy at home, fix all the problems we also inherited a around the world. what did he do? we are back on track, 14 million new jobs, the affordable care

act was passed, we are at 90% health care coverage in america for the first time, and he passed and signed the toughest regulations on wall street since the 1930s, the dodd-frank law. saved the auto industry which was on the brink of collapse which would have taken another couple million jobs down with it. we end ed up losing 9 million because of the great recession. 5 million homes were lost, $13 trillion in family wealth was wiped out. if you want to go back there, you have a lot of folks including one who was here today spatting that same stuff because that is where we will end up again. in fact, you are four times more likely to see a recession in america when you have a republican in the white house. the economy is going to be at the core of this election. you should ask everybody who is running what they're going to do about it.

i got to tell you i am proud of what we have been doing on the democratic side. we have our differences but we have differences over issues and that is what we talk about, not insults which is what happens among the republicans. so i put out a plan. here is what i think we need to do, we need more infrastructure jobs, roads, tunnels, airports, rail systems, some resistance, a water system. we have worked to in our country and those are jobs that can't be exported. they need to be done right here and put americans back to work building our economy, making us more competitive and then we will take the tax system and get rid of the incentives that encourage people to take jobs and move them overseas, take factories and build from overseas, refers that so we start investing in america again, advanced manufacturing. i know it can be done because i have been to your community colleges.

i have seen the work that is happening there, the training that is going on. i also know it can be done because while we are going to combat climate change we are going to create more clean renewable energy jobs and that will be a huge economic opportunity is linked to what i'm doing. republicans all say i don't know, i am not a scientist. there is an easy way to remedy that would go talk to a scientist. listen to a scientist, learn about what is going on. that is bad enough that they are in denial. what really is troubling is they are missing this huge economic opportunity. when i tell people that i see sometimes folks around the country a little bit of skepticism on their faces and here is what i tell them. i know we can create those jobs

because look at what i what has done. and i want you to think representative smith, a iowa gets a fifth of its resources from electricity from wind. you have 7,000 people working in the wind industry in the state. you are doing research on advanced biofuels that the defense department thinks may be able to fuel navy vessels and air force planes. so i a what is in towa is in th the energy revolution, someone will be a superpower, and i wanted to be us. we are going to be doing that technology, innovation and exporting to the rest of the

world's. we also need to be focusing on small business because that is where most of the jobs come from in america and i want to be the small-business president is my dad was a small businessman. i want to clear away the underbrush so people start businesses again. a lot of young people tell me they would love to go into business but they can't get credit. part of it is they have such student debt, we got to fix that. we need to make it easier to start and grow a small business. there are two ways we can raise incomes real quick. one, we got to raise the minimum wage. people who work full time should not be in poverty. there should be a matter of opportunity. the other way is to guarantee equal pay for women's work and that will raise income and families will be better off, the economy will be. [applause] >> everything i just said to you

the republicans don't agree with. every bit of it. they don't believe in any of its. they don't really tell you what they will do except get out of the way and let corporations do whatever they want, but they're big donors do whatever they want. that is not going to work. we know it won't. we can't be sold that bill of goods again. the other thing we have to do is change the tax system so that it is fairer. i am the only candidate running on either side who has made this pledge. i will raise your income. i will not raise middle-class taxes. i do not think it is right to be going to people who suffered because of the republican recession and asking for you to help us make the investment in the future. i want you to take advantage of them but i want to go where the money is. the money is at the top and that is where we need to be shifting our taxes. we need to close the loopholes

and special gimmicks corporations and wealthy use like this thing called a carried interest loophole that i have been against for years. we need to do what warren buffett suggested. i was very happy he endorsed me. i went to omaha with him and we risk standing there and he said you know, i am not too popular among my rich friends these days because i think people like me should pay more money into our tax system to support our country and he has something he calls the buffet rule. anyone who makes $1 million should have to pay a 30% effective tax rate. i have adopted the buffet rule and we are going to write at it and try to get that done. and i am going to go further. i want to oppose what i call a fair share surcharge on income of $5 million or more.

there are not very many of those but there is a lot of money is there because i want to use that money to make college affordable. i want to use that money to invest in clean energy. i want to use that money to move toward paid family leave so families get more support to do their work at home and take care of their families. i want to use that to bring down the cost of child care which in some states is as expensive as college tuition. there are things we can do that will relieve the burden on middle-class families and the money should come from those who have it. people say to me how are we going to get that done? i do have a political strategy. i have seen a little bit of this in the last 20 plus years. there are not that many people who make $5 million or more in america and i think we can make a very clear case. mr congressman over is there. are you in favor of clean energy, affordable college,

early childhood education? and the way we are going to get it is tax the two people in your district and make more than $5 million? or are you going to deny that to 350,000 people who live in your district? we are going to make a very tough case about why we have to make the tax code fairer. you can talk about it but i have a plan to do it, not just a plan on the substance but a political plan. because i want you to know what i aim to do for you and what it will cost you and i want everybody to look at that and make your own but judgment. i also have what has been described as the toughest most effective comprehensive plan to go after wall street. i totally agree with my two esteemed opponents, bernie sanders and martin o'malley that we need to keep our eyes on the big banks and no bank is too big to fail and no executive is too powerful jail but we already have the authority to go after

them. that was in the dodd-frank bill. we don't have to do that. we just have to implement it and i have said if they pose a systemic risk to our economy i will go after it them and i will use the process that president obama signed into law but here is where i differ with my two friends. that is not enough. this is what we have been arguing about on the debate stage. you see, it wasn't just the big banks that caused the problem. it was an investment like lehman brothers, a big insurance conglomerate called a ig, mortgage company called country wide. it was another bank, not one of the big five called wachovia and others who are in the shadow banking sector. what i said is we are going after risk wherever is in the

financial system and paul krug and, nobel prize-winning economist said i have the best plans, barney frank, the franc in dodd-frank said i have the best plan because i'm trying to look not just at what happened in the past to prevent that from happening again but what could happen in the future. the best evidence i have a i have the best plan is the republicans and their billionaire allies are running ads against me. it started a few weeks ago, these two hedge fund billionaires' formed a super pac to run ads against me to convince democrats not to support me. along came karl rove the errant boy for the billionaires, he is now running an ad against me and now another billionaire has jumped in and he is running an ad against me. you got to think why are they spending all this money to try to convince democrats not to

support me? the answer is they know that i say what i mean, i do what i say i will do and i know how to get it done, to take after it them, to prevent them from pushing an agenda on us that hurts the economy. [cheers and applause] >> another area where i have strong feelings and share exactly the same goal as senator sanders is health care. i believe in universal health care coverage. every american should have it. before i was called obamakerri was called hillarykerri 93 and 94 when i was trying to get universal health care and we cannot successful. that was really disappointing. the drug companies, the insurance company spent millions of dollars against us. we didn't succeed and i got to

thinking what can we do now. my view is when you are knocked down you, share these human experience, everybody gets knocked down about something. the real question is whether you get back up. i started thinking what can i do that could help somebody make a difference in their lives? and i remembered when i was traveling around the country trying to get universal health care meeting so many people who did not have health insurance, they couldn't afford it, they had a preexisting condition and the insurance companies wouldn't give it to them. and i met so many really good decent people who were so overwhelmed by what was happening to them. ..

because when you encounter an obstacle, you run into a problem, you've got to keep going. you can't ever stop if you're trying to accomplish something that will help other people. i was thrilled when the president passed inside the affordable care act. we've been trying to get back, the democratic party has been try to get that accomplished since harry truman. and now i meet people all the time who are benefiting from it. i want to build on it and want to improve it.

the republicans want to repeal it and that's what they will do if they get the white house back. we can't let that happen. here's what i want to do. want to decrease costs, out of pocket cost, decrease prescription drug costs. i want to make sure that we get the authority for medicare to negotiate for lower drug costs with the drug companies. i want to go after the predatory pricing that drug companies are using to raise the price of drugs that were to take away their tax benefits. they get a tax benefit for advertising all that on tv to us that we never come i can't understand what they're talking about. a have people walking through fields of wildflowers walking on beaches. at the name of the drug which is unpronounceable and and and a low voice and music that somebody saying if you take this drug your nose will fall off your it drives you crazy. they spend more money on advertising on tv than they spend on research. we are going to go right at them, take them on on this.

but i don't want to start over, my friends. that's the disagreement i have with senator sanders. i want is to build on what we have and make it better, and go from 90% coverage to 100% of americans. i do want to start at zero and have to fight it all over again, have to of the national battle we had on health care over the last 25 years. i'm determined we are going to make this work for everybody. and i know it's the right thing to do. and i hope that, you know, we will be able to get your costs down, your co-pays, your deductibles. a lot of people are telling me are starting to pinch again. i also will defend social security against privatization. the republicans still want to privatize it. they are still talking about that. it's a terrible idea, and you know the worst part was they want to turn the entire salsa

city trust fund over to wall street. that's what this is all about. take all that money that people had been paying in for 75, 80 years and turn it over to wall street. i will never let that happen. [applause] that is the worst idea that is unimaginable. i will also not let them voucherize medicare, something else they want to do. and i will not let them privatized the va. we have to fix the va but we are not going to take away guaranteed benefits from our veterans who have earned them through their service. that's not going to happen. [applause] and when it comes to foreign policy and national security, i think we have a lot to do to keep our country safe. and i have some ideas that i've been putting out based on what i did in the senate after 9/11,

based on my work as secretary of state. it's imperative that we do everything we can to defeat isis, to stop the flow of foreign fighters and funding, fight them on the internet where they are quite effective, without putting american troops on the ground in either syria or iraq. that will not happen. [applause] it's not going to happen on my watch. and then we had to do a better job working with federal, state and local law enforcement to keep us safe at home. and we have to do a better job of sharing intelligence, getting intelligence that will help us prevent attacks. when i was a senator after 9/11 i would be kept up-to-date on all the threads that still were facing new york. and we had a very dedicated group of police and federal law enforcement and everyone who

worked together. but one of the best things we did was a campaign which said if you see something suspicious or you hear something suspicious, report it. and so people were picking up the phone and telling the police or maybe calling the fbi, and it really provided kind of the eyes on help that we needed. people could then follow up, and we prevented attacks. we foiled attacks. the reason i mentioned that is because of this. the republican candidates, led by their front runner, have been attacking muslims, right? you've heard that, attacking american muslims, attacking muslims around the world. that's not only shameful, it's dangerous. we need everybody in this country to be on the same team when it comes to preventing terrorist attacks. [applause] and we need people who are in

the community who hear something, see something, to report it. and not feel like they are being demonized, the famed, insulted, pushed out. and certainly if we're going to defeat isis we need a coalition that includes muslim nations. i built a coalition that imposed sanctions on iran. i know a little bit about how you do this. you don't start by insulting people's religion and ask them to be part of the effort to defeat a common adversary. [applause] that's not the way it works in the real world. so we have to be smart about how we protect ourselves, and that will be my highest priority. i also want to continue to move toward comprehensive immigration reform, which i think is in the best interest of our country and our economy.

[applause] and i want to let you know where i stand on a lot o of the issues that the republicans have taken positions on because they seem to be against so many other fundamental rights that i support. i am for a woman's right to make her own health decisions, and i am against the funding planned parenthood. i am for marriage equality. [applause] and against discrimination against the lgbt community. i'm against citizens united, which is a terrible decision that has opened the doors to close up unaccountable money from the koch brothers and others. and i would do everything i can to reverse that decision. i also want to keep pushing for criminal justice reform and reform in the incarceration system. and i want to fight for commonsense gun safety measures

that will help keep americans safe without retrenching on gun owners rights. [applause] we are a smart people. we can do this your and what i don't understand is how when we know we have on average 90 people a day dying from gun violence, 33,000 people a year, we can't figure out how to protect people, protect first graders going to school, people going to a movie theater, churchgoers going to bible study. we can do this. we can't stop every murder or every suicide our every tragic, avoidable accident but we can stop a lot of them without infringing on anybody's rights. and 92% of the american people agree with that, and 85% of gun owners agree with it. so we need somebody who will stand up to that kind lobbyists

and stop them from intimidating commonsense reforms in our country. [applause] so we have a lot of work to do, my friends. and you have been really patient. the children who are still here have been especially patient. i don't want to keep you any longer. i just want to say a few closing comments, and for those of you who want to stay, i will shake your hand and take pictures, and you can ask the questions. but everybody else can go home and not feel bad about it because i need you to get up tomorrow and that work to get more people to go to the caucus next monday. [applause] you know, i'm all about, i am all about making progress against the odds. i am all about working with people. i've worked with republicans as first lady, as senator, as secretary of state. i worked to get results for the

people i represented in the senate as well as our country. i worked when i was secretary of state to make our country safe and to have our values and our interests promoted. and i know how to find common ground because i've done it. i don't think that, i think, arguably probably every republican i served with at one time or another sponsored a piece of my legislation. action with a number for something, they say nice things about me, even the case of mr. trump. they give me money because you think i'm so good as a candidate and as a senator. this is politics. this is all that that goes on, but once the election is over i will work as hard as i can to find that common ground, to give good things to happen for you, for your families, for your country. and make it possible for young people to feel like i felt, that really the american dream was

available. you had to work for it, but if you did you get ahead and stay ahead. that's what i think about when it comes to my granddaughter. i'm a granddaughter of a factory worker. she's the granddaughter of a former president. i think it shouldn't matter. the grandchildren of everybody should have the same opportunities in our country. [applause] and that's what i'm going to stand up for and fight for. and with your help, starting in the caucus next monday night, that's what we will do together. thank you all so much. [applause] ♪ ♪

♪ >> here you go. there you go. thank you. i need your help next monday night. >> we will be there. >> thank you. >> i know you did. have somebody pick you up and take you next time. good. hello, how are you? thank you. caucus for me monday night. thank you. do you want to get a picture? do you want me in it? [laughter]

>> of course i will. >> hello. how are you? glad you are here. it's great to be here with you. thank you. [inaudible] >> wilhere we go. i'm glad to be here.

ready? >> i think it's good. take care. >> thank you. [inaudible] >> nice to meet you. can i get a picture? >> of course. turn right around here. >> i feel like a brick wall back here. >> one more. >> can you take one with my son? >> both of you, okay? [inaudible]

[inaudible conversations] >> i love it. of course, you can. here we go. you are welcome. >> thank you so much, hillary. time of my life. thank you. will you sign this for me,

please? ♪ ♪ >> hillary, right here. right here. thank you, hillary. >> it's getting close. next monday. >> hope to celebrate with you. >> okay. i love it.

♪ ♪ >> wrigley field. i love it. why don't you take the family? >> perfect. thank you. >> thank you so much. thank you very much. >> i'm holding different phones.

>> thank you. ♪ ♪ >> next monday. please come for me. that's okay. i hope you will come help me. thank you. hi. how are you doing? so happy i got here. the want to get a picture? >> where's your camera?

>> are we done? okay. >> how are you? i remember. >> thank you. >> with your help i am. i'm so glad to see you guys. >> thank you. >> are you guys together? hi, how are you? thank you. [inaudible conversations]

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ [inaudible conversations] >> right now we are seeing reimbursement rates -- [inaudible] i know. we are getting a double whammy. prescription drug companies, insurance companies. >> we are not. >> [inaudible conversations]

>> it took about 30 years but we got it done. we should have the government programs that subsidize the cost into we get all over the country. we can do this. why should we be paying a higher price for lower speeds and are some parts of the country that are hardly covered at all? it is. you can't do business.

>> over here. >> i've got to tell you, keep calling the office to find out. don't let them off the hook on this, okay? i'm serious because we need to get as much help as we can get for college. if you got to borrow money, borrow it at the best rate you can get. the federal government is not going to make any money off of it. don't give up on it. there is much more help. don't give up on it. what do you want to study?

>> political and economic science. >> good to see. do you want to get a picture? okay. great, thanks. hi, how are you? nice to see you. do you want to get a picture? both of you? >> yes. >> there you go. >> thank you. >> there you go.

[inaudible conversations] >> excellent, actually. do you want to get a picture? all of you? right here. >> there you go. >> hillary. hillary. >> there you go. >> don't forget about -- >> are you guys sisters? stay right there and we will put you right there. give me your camera.

there you go. gideon. -- get in. thank you. hope you will, caucus for me monday night. >> thank you. >> you're on your own. >> vote for me monday night, okay? [inaudible conversations] what your plan towards

increasing -- [inaudible] >> it's part of the agenda we have a. it's the next step. we've got to build on the americans with disabilities act. more employment, more housing. >> come out and caucus monday night. are we going to do this together? thank you. i will, i will. come right up here.

>> perfect. >> excellent. thank you. thank you. nice to meet you. yeah, scheuer. -- sure. >> there we go. >> i hope you will, caucus monday night. there we go. >> here we go.

>> hi, how are you? >> we will be the last few minutes of this event with a reminder lots of coverage of the iowa caucuses. ahead of the iowa caucuses on the c-span networks. we are leaving to take you live to the senate floor on the agenda today, energy policy bill now live to the senate here on c-span2. the chaplain: let us pray. spirit of god, who brought creation out of the void, light from darkness and order from chaos. may your name be praised. inspire our senators. use their daily experiences of joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, victory and defeat for

you are glory. remind them that no evil can stop the unfolding of your purposes and providence, as you work through them to bring harmony where th harmony where there is discord. may they find joy in your faithfulness. lord, lead them with your merciful hands as you continue to provide for their needs. protect them and their loved ones with the shield of your love. we pray in your merciful name. amen. the president pro tempore: pleae join me in reciting the pledge f allegiance to our flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america

and to the republic for which ie nation, under goad, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: we were very saddened to hear of the loss of

u.s. capitol police officer vernon alston this past weekend. officer alston served on the force for nearly two decades working to protect all of us. capitol police chief jim dines said that his passing at the age of 44 was a truly tragic loss for the alston family and for the united states capitol police, which in fact is actually one in the same. i know his fellow officers would agree. i know his service and dedication will be remembered by all who knew him. i know our colleagues join me in holdholding his family in our thoughts. now, mr. president, the energy policy modernization act is the result of months of hard work across the aisle. it passed committee with overwhelming bipartisan support and congress hasn't passed legislation to update america's energy policies in nearly a

decade. it's time we changed that. this broad, bipartisan energy bill offers a good way forward. it will help americans produce more energy. it will help americans pay less for energy. it will help americans save energy. not only will this bipartisan legislation help bring our energy policies in line with the demands of today, it will also position us to benefit from the opportunities of tomorrow. so let's work together and pass it. the senators from alaska and washington are proven bill managers. i would ask our colleagues who have amendments they'd like to consider, bring it to the managers. let's get going and pass this important legislation for our country. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. reid: officer alst0 n was

an exemplary police officer. and if his death accomplishes nothing more than the fact this people need to be very aware of what happens during times of exertion. you know, there's 18 people who died during the snowstorm from shoveling snow. now, officer alston was a picture of fitness. he was a weight lifter. he was -- he took care of himself as well as anybody could. and it's such a shame that he is no longer going to be able to take care of his family. as senator mcconnell said, our hearts go out to him, but as i said, if nothing else, please, everyone, focus on this: be very careful. there's still lots of snow out there, and if there is not snow now, there will be at some

subsequent time. just be very kaism you may think that you're powerful and you lift weights, but be very careful because that know is very hard. it is very hard to shovel, it is very heavy and it can create mob--and it can preet create pr. my condolence condolences go toy of officer alston. i am very sorry that he passed away. mr. president, making america's clean energy future sustainable for our children and grandchildren has long ban priority for senate democrats. today the senate will b will ben consideration of a bipartisan bill that makes progress doable. it is an important goal. we have long sought to pass a number of priorities included in this bill. through the stimulus package we made one of the largest investments in clean energy in the entire history of the country. in fact, let me just say it this way. it was the largest investment in

the history of the country, in clean energy. when democrats were in the majority, we fought valiantly to pass a bipartisan piece of legislation called shaheen-portman. it was an energy efficiency bill that would have reduced carbon emissions, saved families and businesses huge amounts of money, and supported 200,000 jobs in america. we tried. we tried to get this done. i made -- i had the senator from ohio come to me and say, we need to get this done. i said, i agree with you. so what do you need? he told me what he needed. we agreed to that. but, mr. president, i'm story report that -- i'm sorry to report that on at least two separate occasions my republican friends chose objec obstructiont

prevents the senate from passing this bipartisan piece of legislation. and then, even the sponsor of the bill -- the republican sponsor -- wouldn't vote for t his own bill. he voted against it. today we have another opportunity. is it the third time or the fourth time we're moving to this? i hope we can get this done. and you think there's no reasoning we shouldn't be able to. because we are responsible in the minority. we want to get things done. we want to pass legislation. we don't want to obstruct everything. senator murkowski and cantwell worked very hard to pass this bill called the energy policy modernization act. they did it through the committee that they are responsible for leading. i commend both senators for their sound leadership. i'm also happy -- and i will just mention a few of the things that this legislation addresses. priorities including permanent

authorization of the land and water conservation fund. we did some very good things in the omnibus that we passed taking care of the land and water conservation fund. we funded it for three years, and that was more than we'd done in a long, long time. but my republican colleagues allowed the legislation -- authorization to expire last month -- last year, three months before we were finally able to renew it. so i would hope that we can pass this part of the bill untouched. most of the key provisions included in the shaheen-portman energy efficiency bill are in this bill. that's really important. $40 billion in energy authorizations including for basic research, home energy efficiency, and clean vehicles. those are just a few of the things. through these provisions the legislation will save consumers as much as $60 billion, and not

only that, but it reduces a significant amount of carbon pollution generated by dirty fossil energy sources. it's estimated that passion the energy policy modernization act will reduce carbon emissions equal to making every car and truck off the road for a year. that's a pretty good deal. over the next 15 years the energy sector will be able to replace 2 million workers and higher an additional 1.5 million for new jobs. that's what this legislation will allow. this bill makes progress towards training a skilled workforce. the senate works best when democrats and republicans, majority anmajority and minoritk together on behalf of the american people. as written, the murkowski-cantwell energy bill could win bipartisan approval in the senate floor and can do it right now. as with all legislation, there's no question the energy bill would be -- could be improved

and there will be efforts made to do that and i certainly solicit amendments, as did the republican leader. but get them over here. it's my understanding the majority is now promising to allow amendments. that's what the republican leader said a few minutes ago. i'm sure that's appropriate. members of my caucus welcome the opportunity to help strengthen the bill. we can't allow extreme republican ideological amendments to poison this opportunity. the murkowski-cantwell energy bill must remain a bipartisan piece of legislation. clean energy, infrastructure, and conservation are priorities for the middle class and all men's. i urge my republican colleagues to recognize the good work of senators murkowski and cantwell and work with democrats to pass this bipartisan legislation. mr. president, on another matt matter, the island of puerto rico continues to face billions of dollars in debt. i don't know the number -- $70 billion. we hear all kinds of numbers. this is part of america, puerto rico. we must work together to address

the severe economic and fiscal crisis that has gripped our fellow citizens. i was in a e meeting yesterday where i was told that on the island of puerto rico, there is a shortage of suitcases, luggage because people are leaving that little country. most of them are coming to florida. they're desperate. many have said that the dire strait of puerto rico could become a humanitarian crisis, and that's really true. the time to act is now. i join senator cantwell and all my democratic colleagues in calling on the republican leader to advance legislation that gives puerto rico the protection it so desperately needs. we did this in a letter to the republican leader. any solution that doesn't provide puerto rico the ability to restructure debt would be an abject failure. legislation that allows puerto rico to adjust a significant

portion of its debt would not cost our federal government a single penny. it is far from a bill-out. it would instead save u.s. taxpayers from the growing cost of inaction. over 3 million americans live on the island of puerto rico. they're looking to congress for help in their time of need. the speaker -- i spoke to him myself. he has made a compliment to address the economic crisis in puerto rico by the end of march. this has to be more than a hearing. we have to have something done substantively to help that country, that territory, i'm sorry. today democrats call on the republican leader to make the same commitment that paul ryan has made, to address the economic emergency in puerto rico soon. there's really no time to spare 68--there's really no time to s. earlier this month, i've talked about a letter that i sent, separate from the one from all

the democrats, wanting the steps the senate can take to help puerto rico. if the republican leader is unsure where to begin, he could heed what i've suggested and appoint a task force to develop a responsible bipartisan solution to this economic fiscal crisis. as far as i'm concerned, that's way down the list. i'm not someone who favors task forces. i think the work should be done on our committees, by our committee chairs and ranking members. i believe that anything that we try to do that is an effort -- let's have -- let's have another hearing. let's appoint a task force. it is only an effort to stall the inevitable. puerto rico needs help. they need to be treated as other american citizens and be able to file bankruptcy. it wouldn't aplay to any other -- it wouldn't apply to any other state. it would apply only to this territory. we must act now to relieve the

hardships and avoid additional costs to taxpayers. because there will be additional confirmcosts if we don't resolvs now. mr. president, i don't see anybody on -- is there anybody on the floor here waiting to speak? so i would ask the chair announce the business of the day. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to the consideration of s.2012 which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 218, s. 2012, a bill to provide for the mo dendersation of the -- modernation of the energy policy of the united states. the presiding officer: under the previous order the time for debate will be until 2:00 p.m.

for debate only. the senator from the great state of alaska. ms. murkowski: mr. president, it's good to welcome you back to snowy washington, d.c. i know that you were back home in alaska, where while they may not have had snow, they got everybody else's attention with the 7.1 earthquake. i know that it was an interesting weekend for you as well. mr. president, i am -- i'm here on the senate floor this morning with a fair amount of excitement and enthusiasm. we are -- we are beginning the

debate on energy legislation, energy reform legislation, a bill, senate bill 2012, the energy policy modernization act. mr. president, this is the first time that the united states senate has debated energy policy reform in more than eight years. more than eight years that we've had this kind of debate. i was here yesterday morning. we had an opportunity to open the floor up. i opened. senator collins was in the chair. it was one of those interesting mornings where everybody else seemed to be female around the floor and the press has taken note of that. but that's not my point. i left here and i went out in the hallway, and there was a group of about eight or nine young kids with a fellow who works on the house side.

i think he was giving them a little bit of a field trip, but actually i think he had kid duty because school was closed. we had a fabulous conversation, as you can have with kids of that age that are excited about being in the capitol and understanding the difference between a house member and a senate member. they said what are you working on? i said it's really exciting because we're going to be taking up energy legislation, reform legislation. we haven't done it in a long time. and i said, you kids, when were you born? and the one little girl says 2007. and i said, well, 2007 is the last time that we had energy legislation on the floor. and i said look what's happened to you in the eight years that you've been here. you've grown, you've gotten smarter, you've been exposed to a lot of things. sometimes it helps to put

passage of time in relation to our kids because we can see that. mr. president, it is long, long overdue to be debating energy legislation on the floor of this senate. this is a good bill. it is a timely bill. and it is a bipartisan bill. and it deserves overwhelming support from this chamber. and i was encouraged by the minority leader's comments and his encouragement that through the process that we have built in the energy committee to move out a bipartisan bill, it should enjoy the respect of good debate as we move forward to, again, attempt to modernize our energy policies. at the beginning here, mr. president, i want to acknowledge the good work, the strong work, the very cooperative work that i have

received from my ranking member, senator cantwell, from the state of washington, and just thank her for helping me craft this bill because it was truly a joint effort. it was a very collaborative effort. i also want to thank the other members of the senate energy and national resources committee for all the ideas that they brought to bear and the support that we have received to them in bringing the bill to this point. to give folks a little bit of a background on how we came to have this energy bill up, first, first stub stan alternative legislation that we've had here in -- the first substantive legislation we've had here in 2016, but i think it's worthwhile to talk about how we got here because that in and of itself is a little bit unusual nowadays. and i just need to segue just a

moment because it was last year at this time that senator cantwell and i were managing the floor when we had the keystone pipeline debate. it was the first time we had seen, -- quote -- "regular order with a full-on amendment process" in a long time. a lot of people didn't even know how to process these amendments. so we worked through some 40-odd amendments, got everybody's attention on, hey, you can't actually move a bill. it has some level of controversy. we didn't obviously agree on many aspects of it, but we moved through a process. well, it's january again, and the women are back at work, and i am hopeful that the collaborative effort that got this bipartisan bill to the floor here today will be reflect ed in the debate that goes before us. senator cantwell and i sat down last january when i became the chairman of the committee, and

we talked about goals and priorities, what we were looking for. we both said it is time, it is well past time that we update our energy policies, that we do a scrub, that we do an overhaul. and we had a conversation about how we might go about it, because there's a couple ways you can proceed around here. i could have drafted my own bill with my own priorities and tried to get the votes that i needed to move it out of committee. but if you don't have the support beyond just your partisan side of the aisle, it's going to be tough to be able to advance it to the floor and to get it enacted into law. and senator cantwell could have done the same. she could have moved her own bill. we could have done messaging bills, but we both agreed we're well past the time for messaging. we need to be legislating.

we need to be governing in the energy space. and so in order to do it, it's going to take some cooperation. it's going to take some collaboration. it's going to take some conversations. and that's where we started it. i went around to colleagues on the committee and began conversations with them about their energy-related priorities. and it continued with our committee staff. they held dozens of bipartisan listening sessions with stakeholders. we held them here in washington, d.c. we held them in other parts of the country. we held one in quigilengot, alaska. you know where that is. most others know it as some far-away village in alaska. but it was important to do a level of reachout. after our listening sessions, we came back here and really rolled up our sleeves. we held four oversight hearings

and began with a real kind of 30,000-foot look about where are we in different energy spaces. so we had our oversight hearings. then we moved down to six legislative hearings on a total of 114 different bills. these were 114 different bills that were not necessarily introduced by just members of the energy committee. these were bills that were introduced by republicans and democrats throughout the senate and some house members' bills that we had seen as well. 114 different separate measures. we took the testimony that we received from experts and advocates and from private citizens and from administration officials and from our home states, and just about overother

state. we -- and just about every other state. we really did that reach-out. we gathered all the perspectives that we could about what congress should do and what congress needs to do to ensure that our federal policies keep up with the years of change in energy markets and energy technologies. and i think one just simple case in point that reminds us of this eight-year passage of time, eight years ago when we talked about l & g, what we were talking about was seeing if we couldn't structure our l & g terminals so they could be import terminals. think about where we are now. we talk about how we export our

ourl & g, how we move to share our energy wealth with others. that's a prime example of making sure of what is happening in our energy markets, what is happening within our energy technologies is consistent with what our policies, our laws and our regulations allowed. so, after we did all this gathering of information, we entered weeks of bipartisan negotiation to determine which bills should be incorporated into our draft text, and from that, from the 114, we took 50, 50 different bills, that as you flip through the 400-some-odd pages of this energy policy modernization act, you will see bits and pieces of 50 different measures offered by colleagues, republicans and democrats throughout the senate here. senator portman has been a leader on energy efficiency, working with senator shaheen,

and being able to incorporate their efficiency provisions. the critical minerals bill that i've been working on for years now, you will see incorporated within. but again, not just taking the ideas that this senator from alaska or that senator from washington has and giving you a bill for consideration, we have really solicited your ideas, your input. the next step was really the last step on the committee, and that was when we went to markup. we held three days of markup. three days is a pretty good time to spend in committee. we dispensed with nearly 60 amendments. it's actually 59 here. we rounded it up. but because of that very collaborative process, because we really did solicit ideas from all sides, what we ended up with when we moved that bill out of committee was an 18-4 vote.

we agreed to report the energy bill to the full senate for further consideration, and that's how we got to where we are today. and i wish that i could say, mr. president, that we see more of this type of really collaborative effort. we don't see it all the time. but where we did see it last year and where we have seen legislative success is worth noting. the education bill that was shepherded by senator alexander and senator murray was also a very collaborative process. i serve on the help committee. i sat through the many hours of debate and oversight and markups, and we were able to advance that bipartisan bill to the floor, a bill that moved out of committee unanimously, by the way.

but we were able to advance that to the floor where it enjoyed strong bipartisan support, went to conference with the house, and that bill is now signed into law. another area where the leaders really work cooperatively and collaboratively. i commend senator boxer and senator inhofe for what they did on the highway bill to work through the issues that are not easy but were absolutely necessary to get a longer-term highway transportation bill that doesn't come if you just kind of elbow your way through. it comes when you work together. i think that we have demonstrated on the energy committee that we have done just that, is working collaboratively. i have said it many times, this, the energy policy modernization bill, is not the bill that i would have drafted if it were just up to me.

and it is not the bill that senator cantwell would have drafted if it was just up to her. or the bill that any one of us would have drafted if it was just up to him or her. but it is a bill that we wrote together. we wrote it as a committee. we wrote it as a team. and as a group of 22 senators who really care very deeply about our nation's energy policies. so, as members are coming back, as they're looking at this bill, i would urge you to look at what is in the bill, what we have been able to find that common ground -- where we have been able to find the common ground, and look and analyze that, because i can guarantee you, you're going to find things that aren't in there that you wish were there, and you're going to

say, lisa, how come my x, y, or z is not part of this bill? that is true. there's some x, y, and z that's not thi in this bill that i woud really like, and that you would like, as the two senators from the state of alaska. would you wbut we don't have ths for that today. so can we agree that what we have built for this bill advances our energy policies, brings us more up to speed, unloosens the chokehold that we have in certain areas? we spent months on this to modernize our energy policies, to address both opportunities and challenges, and we found common ground in many, many areas. and i think -- i think we found common ground in more areas than we actually expected when we

started this process out, certainly good enough to write a good, solid bill. we ultimately organized our efforts into five main titles. we have efficiency, we have infrastructure, supply, accountability, and then conservation. we agreed to include the energy savings and industrial competitiveness act. this is the efficiency measure that i mentioned just a moment ago that senators portman and shaheen have been leading on for years. so to be able to incorporate the good work of the senator from ohio and from new hampshire, along with the support of 13 other members, to include that in here, i think, is very important. we also agreed to include the l.n.g. certainty and transparency act. this was the act that senator

barrasso led on and 17 other members who joined with minimum in that very important -- with him in that very important measure. we also agreed to include my american minerals security act, the crit ca critical minerals b, sponsored by senator risch, senator crapo, senator heller of nevada. again, a piece that i think many would agree + is vitally important, as we see vulnerability in our country on energy security, where we rely on others for sources of supply. we can't ever forget how important minerals are. and we don't want to go down that same road that we have been, for instance, with oil historically, as when we were talking about our critical minerals. so this is a huge issue for us. we agreed to promote the use of clean renewable hydropower, a priority for members from western states, including senator gardner, who helped lead on this, senator daines, senator

cantwell, myself. we agreed to expedite the permitting of natural gas pipelines, without sacrificing any environmental review or public participation. this was an effort that was led by senator capito of west virginia. we agreed to a new program for oil and gas permitting. this was just one of many good ideas that senator hoeven of north dakota advanced. we took up a proposal from senator collins of maine to boost the efficiency within our schools. i think we all recognize that this is an area where we can and should try to do a little bit more. it saves us in the long run. and then senator klobuchar from minnesota had a measure to increase the efficiency of buildings that are owned by nonprofits. we agreed to improve our nation's cybersecurity, an issue that we are all very keyed in on. this was from legislation that

was originally presented by senator risch of idaho, senator heinrich of new mexico. we also saw an amendment from senator flake on this. we made innovation a key priority in our bill, with a recognition that there is a limited -- but a very, very useful -- role for the federal government to play early on in the development of new technologies. i just came from a meeting this morning, a summit on advanced nuclear technologies and recognizing there -- you know, when you talk about nuclear and the future, unknow reagan un-- s so key to what we're building out. we agreed to reauthorize many of the energy-related portions of the america competes act. you'll recall that this was the measure that senator alexander has advanced in the past.

so we took those fr energy-relad pieces and have incorporated them. on some of the areas of renewable, geothermal is one that i believe has enormous potential. we certainly have that potential in the state of earveg bu statee have it in other western states. this was a big priority for senator wyden and senator heller. senator wyden's ideas have been very, very key. we agreed to promote vehicle innovation. this was a priority that senator peters of michigan, as well as senator stabenow of michigan, and senator alexander of tennessee have been working collaboratively on, so we were able to help advance that discussion with vehicle innovation. we agreed to a new -- dosh excuse me, to renew the r&d

program on coal at the department of energy. this was advanced by senator manchin and senator capito. we agreed to protect reliability within the electric sector, an incredibly important part of what we do in this legislation. many of us believe that reforms were necessary and we have done just that to ensure that we don't have taxpayers at risk with certain aspects of that program. we agreed to reauthorize -- and this was something that the minority leader mentioned was the land and water conservation

fund. as folks will recall, the authorization -- or that authorization expired toward the end of last year. we were successful within the omnibus to advance a three-year extension of that. but what we did within the committee was we advanced permanent authorization of land and water conservation fund, but we put reforms within that program, reforms that were, again, endorsed by the full committee. we have a provision in there as well that helps to address the maintenance backlog within our national parks system. people understand that this year is the 100th -- or 100th anniversary of the national park service. the -- it is something worthy of celebration. unfortunately, we've got a real black eye when it comes to maintenance and upkeep of our parks, and so we have -- we have reviewed that issue and said, we need to -- we need to make steps

to help address that in a way that is constructive. and then, mr. president, there's a section of the bill that nobody will talk about. the press doesn't care to report about it, but i think it's a really pretty good section. and recognizing your interest in kind of regulatory rreform, youl be pleased to know that we cleaned up the u.s. code. we delete dozens -- there's actually 39 at my last count -- dozens of provisions within it that are either obsolete or duplicative. we get these programs on the books, we put requirements for a study into law, and as long as they are still there, even though no one is reading that report anymore, even though that program is just now obsolete because of what has gone on, it's still on the books. so if you're worried about

government spending and you're looking at the conservative reason to embrace what we're doing here, take a look at some of the provisions that we just get rid of. they're old, they're outdated, they're obsolete. so this is just a sample of the good work that we have included in the bipartisan bill. i think many of the members that i listed are responsible for not just one provision but for multiple provisions throughout the bill. truly a team effort as we have worked this through. i think, as we were counting up different parts of the bill where we have seen members contribute, more than half of the members of the senate are sponsors or cosponsors of at least one provision in the bill as we stand here today. so i think, again, that that's representative of the process

that senator cantwell and i have engaged in. so you may want to ask -- so, okay, you had a thorough process. what's in it. what good is it? what does it mean to me? how is this going to help our country from an energy policy perspective? how is it going to make sure when we talk about energy security translating to economic security and national security, how does this really all bind together? how does this help our people? there are many practical benefits to modernizing our energy policy. and i'll start with just the first obvious one. every time you do upgrades, whether it is in your house or within our business, you do upgrades, you become more efficient, you are typically -- in this day and age, i don't know about you, but we've

replaced the windows in the house. not only did it make the house look a little better, bus we'ret we're paying a little less for our utilities. my husband has just found a good deal on l.e.d.'s. he's reese place replaced all tt bulbs in our house. he's worried about costs. this bill helps us reduce our cost. this bill also allows us a cleaner energy future because when you modernize your infrastructure, when you -- when you use less, you reduce much of your emissions. so for those who will be critical, it says, by gosh, you didn't fix the issue of climate critical, it says, by gosh, you

look through this bill and tell me if it doesn't promote a clean energy future for this country. and this bill makes us less reliant on others. it helps americans save energy. when we save energy, we save money. and we -- it's just -- it's just a more efficient environment. it will help ensure that our energy can be transported from where it is produced to where it is needed. it's a big challenge that we have nowdays, mr. president. it will bolster our status as the most innovative nation in the world. why shouldn't we -- why shouldn't we be the most innovative nation in the world when it comes to energy? we have the resources here. let's develop the technologies that allow us to access them in a way that is responsible, with good environmental stewardship, that creates jobs, that creates

economic opportunities, that truly allows us to be more energy-resilient. why shouldn't we be the innovators and the leaders? our bill will allow our manufacturers to thrive without high costs or crippling shortages and it will cement our status as a global energy superpower as we provide a share of our surplus to our allies and trading partners. isn't that nice to know that not only can our energy be good for us and for america, but it can be good from a geopolitical perspective, helping our friends and our allies. that is, when you think about the energy security, economic security, and the national security that comes with energy, that's where it all knits together. the energy policy modernization

act will boost our economy, our security, and our international competitiveness. all at the same time. it will help our families save money, it will help our businesses save hundreds of billions of dollars, it frees you are budgets, it frees up our ability to place priorities elsewhere, it will help assure that our energy remains abunda abundant, it remains affordable, even as it becomes more clean and more diverse in supply. and it will do all of this, mr. president, without raising taxes, without imposing new mandates, and without adding to the federal deficit. so again, you're getting great gain for our economy, good jobs,

security from a host of different ways. we are able to do this without raising taxes, without imposing new mandates and without adding to the federal deficit. this is a good bill. this is a bill that is designed to go the distance. it's designed to make a difference. and i'm confident that we can proceed through this floor debate. we can make it even better because for the half of the senators that have participated in this one way or another, there's another half that want to weigh in, and i welcome that. i welcome that. i think that that is part of this process. this is part of a commitment that we're making to an open amendment process. but i would hope, mr. president, that we can focus on the good that is within in this bill and work to make it better. and avoid the got -- gotchas and avoid the poison pills, avoid

those things that are designed to do nothing more than to bring a bill down by making perhaps a political point that isn't going to go anywhere. i really ask my colleagues, let's treat this bill on the floor with the same seriousness that the energy and natural resources committee treated it throughout this months' long process. let's come together as senators within the united states senate to really make a difference with our energy policies. let's work to enhance this. and so with that, i encourage members to come down, file your amendments on the floor. we know that there's a bunch of rumored amendments out there. and we welcome them. but we all know that we've been delayed now by the snow a couple days, and we've got work to do.

so i would urge colleagues to come down to the floor, file your amendments. i would also remind members that if an amendment costs money, it is going to need to be paired with a viable offset, because we don't want to be in a situation where we just can't work through that. i would also remind the senate that we are considering senate bill 2012. this is not a house shell. so we will need to table any tax amendments because we don't want to be in a situation where we've got a blue slip that prevents us from advancing to conference. so i'm just throwing that out there. you may have issues that you'd like to bring up. but if it costs money you've got to have an offset. we simply can't do the tax amendments. and i know that, because there's actually some that i'm interested in as well. i think senator cantwell and i are both in the same situation.

we know that an open amendment process on an energy bill that hasn't seen floor action in a long time, it could have the effect of unkinking the hose. we know that there's a lot of folks that have a lot of good ideas, perhaps hundreds of ideas that this bill could include. so our intent is to work just as hard as we can and as fast as we can to process as many of these bills as possible. tomorrow we expect to have a pretty busy day. hopefully by the end of the day we will have reached some consent agreement as to what votes tor tomorrow would look like. but my hope is that we will be here voting, voting, voting tomorrow to really start processing many of the amendments here. it is unfortunate that we have lost a few working days to the

snowstorm, but that's nothing, mr. president, that's nothing compared to the eight years that we have lost as we have let our energy policies just languish. so we know we're in a place and a space where our policies have failed to keep up with changes in the market and the advances in technology. we know that our policies in many areas are outdated with the opportunities being ignored and the challenges are going unaddressed. so we are here. it's time to have the debate. it's time to work through an amendment process. it's time to pass an energy bill here in the united states senate. and after the model, again, of the highway bill, of the education reform and the very good work that so many in this body have put towards this bipartisan effort, my hope is

that the energy policy modernization act will be the next bipartisan accomplishment on behalf of the american people. so with that, mr. president, i will yield to my ranking member and good partner in all things energy, senator cantwell. and again, a very sincere thank you for your very cooperative and good working relationship throughout all of this. thank you. ms. cantwell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. ms. cantwell: mr. president, i too rise this morning -- or i guess almost afternoon to talk about the energy policy modernization act of 2016. and, yes, sometimes you can be cynical about this place and what you can get done, and then all of a sudden you have a great opportunity to move something forward. and the senator from alaska said it correctly, this is a milestone for the senate. the fact that we are considering

energy policy legislation on the senate floor on a bipartisan bill or any bill for the first time since 2007. so a tremendous milestone, and i thank her for her leadership and for her time and efforts to put this legislation together in such a bipartisan fashion, to show the kind of process that we went through with that chart, hearings, listening sessions, discussions, amendments. i think it's appropriate at this time to thank our staffs. usually that's done at the end of a process, but when used a bill on the -- you've had a bill on the floor for the first time since 2007 you should herald them in advance. eric mcdonald and carn played a -- karen played a big role in this so i thank them. my partner -- it is interesting

the other senator from alaska is presiding at this moment but the senator from alaska, murkowski, and i participated in antarctic summit last week in seattle focusing on another policy for our nation and the urgency of getting a ice-breaking fleet for the united states of america and what we need to do in the arctic. i have certainly enjoyed the many, many efforts that we in the pacific northwest region focused on and i think that helped us a little bit in our outlook. it's not that we agree on everything. certainly we don't. but i think that we know where we disagree and we try not to let that get us held up. we try to find the commonality on moving forward with the modernization of our energy system and make sure that we are empowering the private sector to continue to move ahead on the things by making sure that either the r&d investment or

changes in policy or looking at a workforce or something as important but as basic as developments in cybersecurity get done on our watch. and that's really what the 2006 modernization act is about. so i thank the chair for her leadership on that effort and for steering us to this process that we have before us today. and as she said, it's not a perfect bill that we're not going to hear from our colleagues on, i'm sure, since it is the first major piece of energy legislation that we hope goes all the way to the president's desk, that it is a process i'm sure many of our colleagues are going to want to see amendments on. and we will work through them to the best of our abilities and to hopefully improve the bill but also not sink the bill with poison pill amendments that we know either will get it vetoed or won't get it across the finish line where we need to take this legislation. so i'm here this morning to,

along with the chair of the committee, thank our colleagues on the committee for their leadership and input on this bill on both sides of the aisle. it, again, was a process in which not everybody agreed but the bill passed out of committee with well over the majority of votes in the committee in a bipartisan way, and i think that signals that it should have good support here on the senate floor because we went through a very deliberative process in the committee, and that deliberative process means a lot of issues were aired, and we kind of know where we can go and where we can't go on this legislation. again, it doesn't mean we're not willing to consider a lot of debate. we are. or it doesn't mean that people aren't going to offer amendments that are going to be challenging. they are. but in the end, i think if we want to keep moving forward with empowering the kind of energy revolution that we're seeing, we need to keep up on our side of the ledger here in the nation's capital. so so much has changed in the

last nine years since that 2007 act and before that we have a small bill in 2005. and so we've seen some very dramatic changes in energy. clean energy has certainly weathered the storm and is not just a pipe dream anymore. it is a key driver of our economy and it's helping us reduce our carbon emissions. wind power has more than tripled since the last pill. solar voltaic installations are up nearly 15%. the number of l.e.d. lights, i'm glad the senator from alaska's husband is such a cheerleader, but that is exactly what we're talking about. it has grown more than 90 times its level in the last 15 years since the -- in the last time period since that bill. and the reason is just as the senator from alaska said, this is all about consumers who at the bottom line want to be able to save money on their energy costs. and you bet, senators from alaska get that.

i will say senators from washington get that as well. we get it in a different way. you get it because you are constantly battling the highest energy costs in the nation. and we get it because we are constantly reaping the benefits from some of the lowest energy costs in the nation. so we both have a great deal of concern here. we both want to protect the industries and the economic opportunities of our economy. and we know that energy is the lifeblood of any economy. the u.s. solar industry employed more than 200,000 americans in 2015, and that was a 20% growth in the industry in the last year. and to put it into perspective, it is nearly growing 12 times faster than the national employment rate during that same time period. so we need to continue this effort to make investments in the right research and development, the right technologies and empower

homeowners, ratepayers and even businesses to get billions of dollars in savings. so, why are we doing this bill? well, as i said, it is an important journey to update our antiquated energy policies that have been part of our challenge when we want to modernize our infrastructure. and we want to maintain our global competitiveness. these are issues that are part of our energy debate today because we also want to reduce carbon pollution, which as my colleague said, while this may not have everything we want to see from our side of the aisle in a carbon reduction plan, it certainly shows that we do want to see investments in clean energy. so it doesn't matter whether you are a republican or democrat, the people of this country have

said clearly they want to see clean energy and they want us to help curb climate change. so we need to listen to our constituents, and that's why we're trying to move past some of the issues of policy and move forward on things that will empower our citizens. i see the new head of the senate here, who is from the state of iowa, who understands exactly what i'm talking about because you too, whether it is in wind or solar or biofuels have seen the economic benefit of a changing energy policy for our economy and want to make sure that businesses and ratepayers are still empowered. so we're here because we need to update and modernize our energy policies, and that is what we did when this bill came out of committee with a 18-4 vote. and we need to build on the momentum of the technologies and

how their deployment reflect new market realities. this was a very important aspect of our energy debate. that is the secretary of energy's h completion of what was called a quadrennial energy review. what is our nation's energy challenges? it wasn't just an energy department, energy agency discussion. it was the entire federal government's weighing in on what are the energy needs of our nation. it's done every four years. and basically what secretary moniz said is that we are at a crossroads. that that dynamic and changing nature of our domestic resource mix in expanded supplies of natural gas but also growth and distributor generation is creating opportunities and challenges. and as the secretary put it, quote, "the longevity and high capital cost of energy infrastructure means that decisions made today will strongly influence our energy

mix for the considerable part of the 21st century." end quote. so what was he talking about? he was talking about the fact that this crossroads and where we make investments will mean that we will either reap the benefits of making the right decisions or stymie our economy's economic growth but not making the right energy decisions. so when we talk about energy infrastructure, i try to remind my colleagues we're talking about 2.6 million miles of pipeline, 640,000 miles of transmission lines, 414 natural gas storage facilities, 330 ports with petroleum and crude and more than 140,000 miles of railroad and a diversion mix of energy projects, and obviously an electricity grid that runs from coast to coast. so the quadrennial review talked about how we needed to modernize and upgrade that infrastructure and that the electricity grid was a key part of that.

and that is why you will see a lot in this bill about modernizing the electricity grid and why it is so important to our nation. again, from an economical perspective of having affordable, cheap, renewable, katrina energy power but d. clean energy power but also making sure that it helps us with cybersecurity. once again be, a quote from the report says, "dramatic changes in u.s. energy landscape have significant implications for infrastructure needs and choices. well-informed, forward-looking decision that lead to robust, resilient infrastructure can enable a substantial new economic consumer-service climate protection and system reliability benefits." end quote. so that is why you will see a significant focus in this bill on infrastructure, investing in technologies, cybersecurity, making our grid more intellen