all of this means that we have to remain vigilant in our monitoring and in our verification. that's why i sponsored the iran policy oversight act and encourage my colleagues to pass it. the bill does three important things to hold iran accountable. first, it allows congress to more quickly impose economic sanctions against iran's terrorist activities. ^+sebgd, the bill also expands military aid to israel and, third, the bill ensures that agencies charged with monitoring iran have the resources that theyeed. we also have to reauthorize the iran sanctions act in order to ensure that we can hold iran accountable if it violates the deal, the iran sanctions act is up for reauthorization this december and has been a pivotal component of u.s. sanctions against iran's energy sector and it's applications have been steadily expanded to other iranian industries.

given iran's history, we can anticipate that it will continue to test the boundaries of international agreements, and we have to be ready to respond when it does so. in summary, we must hold iran accountable every step of the way, imposing harsh sanctions as the administration must do against those responsible for iran's ballistic missile program, which threatens regional and global security is of course, a good start. but we must continue to sanction iran's ballistic missile program as well as its sponsorship of terrorism and abuse of human rights. mr. president, i see that we are gathered here for some very important votes. i will put the rest of my statement on the record regarding support for our regional allies and the need to confirm key national security officials to important positions. thank you, i yield the floor. mr. coons: i'd like to thank

senators klobuchar and blumenthal for joining me in this. i yield the floor. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: no, we are not. mr. mcconnell: i ask that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. 2012.

mr. president, i think i'll start gefn. -- again. i ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the democratic leader, the senate proceed to the consideration of s. 2012, and that it be in order to call up the following amendments en bloc: and that the amendments be called up and reported by number. 3276, cantwell striking certain provisions, 3302, klobuchar, modifying a provision, as modified. 3335, flake. 3050, flake. 3237, hatch. 3308, murkowski, 3286, heller.

3075, vitter. 3168, portman. 3229, shaheen, 3155, heinrich, 3270, manchin, 3313, cantwell, 3214, cantwell. 3266, vitter. 3310, sullivan. 3317, heinrich. 3265, vitter. 3012, kane. kaine, 3004, gillibrand, cassidy. 3233, warner. 3239, thune. 3221, udall-portman, 3203, coons, 3209 portman, 3206, flake 3, 251, inhofe. i ask that immediately following the reporting o of the amendmen, it be in order for the senate to vote on the amendments en bloc

as 3236 with no intervening action or debate. further, that it be in order to call up the following amendments en bloc understand that amendments be called up and reported by number. 3234, murkowski-cantwell, 3202, isaac san-bennet, 317 a 5, bur, 3210, lankford, 3311, bozeman, 3312, udall, 3787, paul. that there be two hours of debate is equally divided in the usual form on the amendments concurrently, that no further amendments to these amendments be in order, and that following the use or yielding back of time, the senate vote on amendments in the order listed with 60 affirmative vote threshold. following the disposition of the paul amendment number 3787, the senate vote on the cassidy amendment number 2954 with a

60-vote affirmative threshold. following the disposition. cassidy amendment, the substitute amendment number 2953 as amended be agreed to and that notwithstanding rule 22, the senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture upon consideration -- on s. 2012 as amended and that if cloture is invoked, all postcloture time be yielded back, the bill be read a third time, the senateote on passage of s. 2012 as amend, the budget points of order not be barred by virtue of thisempt gray. the presiding officer: to clarify, amendment number 3055 flake and 3229 by flake. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that amendments 3202, 32392, 3313, 32365, 3233, 3309,

3234 be modified with the changes at the desk. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i would like to take a moment here to congratulate chairman murkowski for what could best be described as a long march. her persistence and determination to pull this very important bill together with a lot of senators with different views at points along the way has been a really extraordinary accomplishment and frankly been fun to watch because she certainly knows thousand manage a bill, thousand get to a conclusion -- how to get to a

conclusion and did it in extraordinary fashion. i also want to thank senator cantwell, her ranking member. the two of them worked well together and i think we're on the cusp here of something very important and very much worth doing for the american people. mr. reid:? the presiding officer: the minority leader. mr. reid: mr. president, i'm very happy that we're at this point. this legislation has taken three years. it's been hard to get where we are today. we can go back -- there are a lot of hurdles that we have had to jump to get to where we are now and we can fix blame to lots of people. we're where we are and we should cape tha -- we should accept tht with glee. i'm grat tied that we're -- i'm gratified that we're able to reach this agreement. this is an important piece of legislation. is it perfect? of course not. nothing is. we're trying to work things out

through compromise. this is a good opportunity for us to show that we can do that. we've tried to move this legislation for three years, and i really appreciate the patience of jeanne shaheen from new hampshire. she's worked on this and been disappointed so many times. but i hope she feels as good as the rest of us. i also want to thank the ranking member of the energy committee. she's had other responsibilities before, but those of us who've worked with senator cantwell know how persistent she can be. she is just tireless in advocating for what she thinks is aproavment so i appreciate what she is done the last few days to get us to the point where we are. i'm grateful that we are done with this. we're going to finish this bill. we'll have to work again time-wise, it will not be the easiest thing.

but we should be able to do that pretty easy. we have other things to do. we have an appropriations bill coming up. we need to finish the f.a.a. i hope conge. i hope nobody is going to be demanding a lot of postcloture time on that. so i would hope, mr. president, we can use this has a pattern for are what we can do in the future to get things doe done fr the american people. ms. murkowski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator alaska. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i'd like to acknowledge and thank the majority leader and the minority leader for their cooperation, their help in getting us here. and specifically, to recognize

the good work of senator cantwell. you do not get to a point in this body with significant legislation if you don't have a willing pattern on the other side -- partner on the the other side. we have not taken up energy reform or any real energy legislation in over eight years now. and in those intervening eight years, much has happened in the energy space. but our policies, as they relate to energy, whether it's l.n.g. exports or renewables, hasn't advanced, and the commitment that senator cantwell and i made to one another over a year ago to try to move legislation -- not just to move messages but to move legislation, was a commitment that held us through a lot of hearings, a lot of

discussion, a lot of debate going back and forth, but to the point where we are today with an agreement to move forward to final passage on a very significant energy bill for the country. so i thank not only senator cantwell, but i'd like to recognize her staff led by angela beckert ditman and my energy team led by collin haynes, who had a v. put in yeoman's work to get us to this point. i'd like we could kick this whole thing out tonight, but we're not going to be doing that but we do have the glide path forward. to those on our respective teams and those on the floor that have helped us as well. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call: mr. hoeven: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. hoeven: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. hoeven: mr. president, i rise to talk about the university of north dakota men's hockey team which won a national championship last saturday. undoubtedly, the president, like everybody else, mr. president, the presiding officer was glued to his tv set watching the exciting game between the university of north dakota men's hockey team and quinnipiac and the u.n.d. hockey team prevailed 5-1 in angst in front of about 20,000 fans. it was fan it is a tifnlgt i am here to read a resolution into the record, the united states senate congratulating the university of north dakota men's hockey team for winning the 2016 national collegiate athletic

division i men's hockey championship. whereas the university of north dakota referred to in this preamble as u.n.d. men's hockey team won the 2016 national collegiate athletic division i men's hockey championship team in tam parks florida, 0 on april 9, 2016 in a hard-fought victory over the bobcats of connecticut by a score of 5-1. whereas the university of north dakota men's hockey team and coach brad berry had an incredible 2015-2016 season. coach berry became the first head coach to win the national championship in his first season as head coach. whereas u.n.d. has won its eighth frozen four championship second only to michigan. michigan has won nine.

we hope to recommend dhai next year and get our ninth and then pass up the university of michigan. but u.n.d. has now won eight ncaa frozen four national championships and ended the season with a 34-6-4 record. whereas coach barry and his staff have instilled character and perseverance in the u.n.d. players and have done an outstanding job with the university of north dakota hockey program. whereas the leadership of interim president ed schaefer and athletic director bras fazon has helped further both academic and athletic excellence at u.n.d. whereas thousands of u.n.d. fans attended the championship game reflecting the tremendous fan base at the university of north dakota that showcases the spirit and dedication of u.n.d. hockey fans, which has helped propel the team's success and whereas the 2016 ncaa frozen four division i hockey championship was a victory not only for the u.n.d. men's hockey team but

also for our great state of north dakota. we take great pride in our hockey and our tremendous u.n.d. hockey team. now, therefore, be it resolved that the senate, one, congratulates the university of north dakota men's hockey team, the 2016 national collegiate athletic association division i men's hockey champions. number two, commends the university of north dakota players, coaches and staff for their hard work and dedication. and, three, recognizes the students, alumni and loyal fans for supporting the u.n.d. men's hockey team on their successful quest to capture another ncaa national championship trophy for the university of north dakota. we are very, very proud of our university, of the leadership there at the university, of the coaches, the staff and these tremendous student-athletes. they conducted themselves so well both on and off the ice.

just absolutely impressive run through the post-season. and i think quinnipiac had only lost about three games all year so they had an incredible record. they were actually rated number one in the country. our hockey team came in and just played a fantastic game, exciting game to watch. but again, on both sides, tremendous athletes. congratulations, too, to quinnipiac on a great year and on an outstanding program. we played denver in the semifinals. also had a great year. boston college was on the othe other -- in the other bracket. so, you know, really outstanding hockey programs. it was a great hockey tourname tournament. fantastic fan base from all the schools. and, again, you know, back to the quality of the athletes, the student-athletes that were competing absolutely, you know, great character, handled themselves well, great

sportsmanship. exactly the kind of thing you like to see not only for our state -- for out state but the other states that were there and the teams that were representing them. just a great tournament all around. also thanks and congratulations to everyone in tampa for hosting the tournament and doing an absolutely fantastic job. we had thousands of fans outside the arena after the game and just savoring the victory and having a great time and the city of tampa and the arena could not have been more hospitallable. and so we want to say thank you and express our appreciation. again, congratulations to a great team on a great year. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor.

mr. whitehouse: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, may i ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 20 minutes as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: thank you, mr. president. this is the 133rd climate speech that i have delivered and it has been an amazing week. on saturday, "the new york times" posted its cover story about dying coral reefs in our oceans. on sunday, the cover story in "the providence journal" was about drowning salt marshes in rhode island. both are the handiwork of climate change. but even more amazing, listen to what a koch brothers operative said last week -- and i quote -- "charles has said the climate is changing so the climate is

changing." that was cheryl corrigan speaking of koch industries, the massive fossil fuel conglomerate led by charles and david koch. and the "charles" was charles koch. she went on, "i think he's also said, and we believe that humans have a part in that." climate change is real, it see seems, and manmade, if even they will say so. what this really means, mr. president, is that the denial schtick has collapsed entirely. we saw this coming with the oil and gas c.e.o.'s in the run up to the parris climate summit, the chief executive officers of 10 of the world's largest oil and gas companies declared their collective support for a strong

international climate change agreement. we are committed to playing our part, they professed. over the coming years, we will collectively strengthen our actions and investments to contribute to reducing the g.h.g., greenhouse gas, intensity of the global energy mix. so if the oil and gas c.e.o.'s won't do it and now even the koch brothers won't do it, it looks like denying climate change is no longer acceptable, even to those who most cause it. as we know, big coal took another path, denying to the end, and for many players in the coal industry, it really is the end. the industry's being devastated by market forces and is in precipitous decline. as i noted in my last climate speech, the "wall street journal" reported that the war on coal, which i should probably

put in quotes, was a war on coal by the natural gas industry and that the natural gas industry has won. appalachian power president and c.e.o., charles patton, told a meeting of energy executives last fall that coal was losing a long-term contest with natural gas and wind power. today we learned america's largest coal company, peabody energy, filed for bankruptcy, as arch coal did in january. in recent years, one report found 26 u.s. coal companies have gone into bankruptcy. some of the most notable bankruptcies include james river coal and patriot coal corporation, which had combined assets that totaled $4.6 billion. mr. president, denial was not a winning strategy for the coal industry.

if outright denial of manmade climate change is no longer a viable strategy, what's left? well, it's an old classic -- disassembling -- saying one thing and doing another. the polluters say climate change is real and they say that a carbon fee makes sense but they put their entire massive lobbying and political operations to work to prevent congress from actually acknowledging that climate change is real or from working on legislation to establish a carbon fee, even a carbon fee that would dramatically reduce the corporate income tax rate. "usa today" reported this week, for example, that oil titan chevron has pumped at least a million dollars into the super pac set up to keep the senate in the hands of the climate denial

party. i don't know of a penny that chevron has put in to support climate action in congress. say one thing, do another. a new report from the nonprofit research organization influence map shows that two other major oil companies along with three of their industry trade groups spend as much as $115 million a year to lobby against the very climate policies they publicly claim to support. say one thing, do another. this chart shows the streams of money from exxonmobil and royal dutch shell, whose c.e.o., by the way, signed the oil and gas paris declaration, as well as the american petroleum institute here, the western states petroleum association here, and

the australian petroleum production and exploration association here. that's shell. that's exxon. this money deluge, total spent, $114 million, includes advertising and public relations, direct lobbying here in congress and at statehouses, and political contributions and electioneering. and don't think that any of this goes to support a solution to climate change. what this chart doesn't show is the dark money that these corporate behemoths funnel through phony baloney front groups, often untracably, to publicly undermine public standing of the climate crisis, and to undermine action in congress. front groups have been testifying this very week in the environment and public works

committee against climate action. and was there any pushback from charles koch? or from the oil c.e.o.'s? no. nor does this chart show the undisclosed fossil fuel millions dumped into our elections thanks to the regrettable citizens united supreme court decision. academic researchers like robert bruehl at drexel university, riley dunlap at oklahoma state university, justin farrell at yale university, and michael mann at penn state university, among many others, have studied and are exposing the precise dimensions and functions of the corporate climate denial machine. it is quite a piece of machinery. investigative writers like naomi ariskes, eric conway, naomi klein and steve cole are also on

the hunt. jane mayer of the new yorker, has put out an important piece of journalism. her new aptly titled book "dark money" about the secret but massive influence buying of right-wing billionaires led by the infamous koch brothers. mayer's book catalogs the rise and expansion into a vast array of front groups of this operation and the role in it of two of america's more shameless villains, charles and david koch. if you want a little more history on this unholy alliance, you can read "poison tea," a new book out by jeff nesbitt. mr. nesbitt was a republican who worked in the bush 41 white house. he was there at the creation. he has reviewed an enormous array of documents and he has written an amazing expose.

the koch brothers say one thing- the koch brothers' say one thing, do another strategy, is just as bad as the say one thing, do another strategy of their oil and gas allies. remember, here's what they now say. charles has said the climate is changing so the climate is changing. i think he's also said, and we believe that humans have a part in that. again, that's the koch industry's rep. but here's what they still do. they still threaten that republicans who support a carbon tax or climate regulations would be -- quote -- "at a severe disadvantage in the republican nomination process. we would absolutely make that a crucial issue." that's the president of americans for prosperity, the juggernaut of the koch brothers

whacked political network -- koch brothers backed political networks which have promised to spend, believe it or not, $750 million just in this 2016 election. what on earth could they possibly want to spend $750 million? americans for prosperity's president also takes credit for -- and i quote -- "the political peril" -- political peril they are proud to have created for republicans who cross them on climate change. this threat is not subtle. step out of line and here come the attack ads and the primary challengers, all funded by the deep pockets of the fossil fuel industry powered up by citizens united. the result? the issue of climate change is completely absent from the republican campaigns. they really don't want to talk about it. every republican candidate has gone into silence or outright

denial. and their silence or outright denial is exactly paralleled on the floor of this body. just this week a bipartisan effort to extend tax incentives for renewable energy fell apart. after it was reported that the kochs and an array of their front groups told the senate majority to cease and desist from allowing an extension of renewable tax credits the majority had already agreed to. so down came the f.a.a. bill compromise. of course the big oil tax credits have been baked into the tax code and there's no contesting them that's allowed. so we now have a field in which renewable tax credits that were agreed to are not in place but big oil protects its own tax breaks as the fossil fuel industry attacks the renewallable tax breaks --

renewable tax breaks. look at fossil fuel influence has done to the business lobby groups. the chamber of commerce which is probably more accurately defined now as the chamber of carbon, the american petroleum institute, even the national association of manufacturers, the national federation of independent business, and the farm bureau, big oil and the koch brothers have locked them all down. it is a wall of opposition among those groups to any sensible conversation about carbon pollution. mr. president, i have spoken before about the well defended castle of denial constructed by the big polluters to attack and harass their opponents and to keep out the unwelcome truth of climate science. built as it is on a foundation of lies, the denial castle is bound to crumble. we've seen cracks begin to

appear in the edifice. this revelation on the part of the koch brothers that they finally see the climate change is real and manmade is another collapse. it's a big collapse. but don't believe that they are surrendering their position entirely. what we see here in congress is that they are still fighting as hard as ever. they're just conceding some of their more extreme positions because they know some of their nonsense is now simply beyond the pale. it's not acceptable. this is just a strategic retreat from a preposterous stance. every major scientific society in america agrees on the cause and the urgency of climate change. so, too, do i think every one of our major state universities, certainly every one that i have

looked at and all of our national labs and nasa and noaa and america's national security and intelligence community and all the corporations who signed the america business act on climate pledge which includes major corporations from a lot of our republican colleagues' home states. that's a lot of information to deny and ignore. and that's an awful lot of legitimate people to claim our part of a hoax. so here it comes, mr. president, the whole structure of deceit and denial erected by the fossil fuel interests is creeking and crumbling more than a dozen attorneys general are starting to poke and probe. my republican colleagues may want to consider getting out of the way of this because the day is coming and soon when the whole denier castle collapses

and, mr. president, that day cannot come too soon. i yield the floor and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. a senator: i ask that the qowrks be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to calendar number 360, h.r. 1493. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 360, h.r. 1493, an act to protect and

preserve international cultural property at risk due to political instability armed conflict or natural or other disasters and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. inhofe: i further ask that the casey amendment be agreed to, the committee reported amendment as amended be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time and passed and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 401, s. rrks 388. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 401, supporting the goals of international women's day. the presiding officer: without objection the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. inhofe: mr. president, i ask further that the committee reported amendment to the

resolution be agreed to, the resolution as amended be agreed to, the committee reported amendment to the preamble be agreed to, the preamble as amended be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider -- be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate now proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following senate resolutions which are -- were submitted earlier, s. rrks 419, s. rrks 420, 421 -- 421, 422, 423 and s. rrks 424. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 419 congratulating the university of north dakota men's hockey team for winning the 2016 national collegiate athletic association division one men's hockey championship. s. rest 420, congratulating the

2016 national champion august stan2016 college use the athletic association division two men's basketball tournament. s. rest 421 congratulating the university of connecticut women's basketball team for winning the 2016 collegiate athletic association division one title. senate resolution 422 supporting the mission and goals of 2016 national crime victims rights week and so forth. s. rest 423, congratulating the university of minnesota women's ice hockey team on winning the 2016 national collegiate athletic association women's ice hockey championship. s. rest 424, supporting the goals and ideals of take our daughters and sons to work day. the presiding officer: without objection the senate will proceed to the measures en bloc. mr. inhofe: i ask unanimous consent mr. president that the

resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate now proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following house concurrent resolutions which are at the desk, h.r. conrest 115, h.r. con rest 117, h.r. con rest 1 ten. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: house concurrent resolution 115 authorizing the use of emachines participation hall in the capital visitors center for an event to celebrate the birthday of king command mayo one, h. con rest 117 authorizing the use of the capital grounds for the national peace officers memorial service and the national honor guard and pipe band exhib big. h.r. con rest 120 authorizing the use of the capital grounds for the third answer fallen firefighters fallen flag

presentation ceremony. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measures en bloc hoff mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to and motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. thursday, april 14, following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders to be reserved for their use later in the day. further, following leader remarks, the senate resume consideration of h.r. 636. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: if there is he no further business to come before the senate, i ask it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate adjourned until 9:30 a.m. senate adjourned until 9:30 a.m.

the senate today continued work setting federal aviation administration policy and programs. it would include consumer protections for airline passengers and sets new rules for drones. lawmakers hope to finish work on it this week. also the house committee heard about the washington d.c. metro system. will have the entire hearing for you later in the program schedule. now here is a brief preview. >> let me just say this. if you want to come appear and give you good news i be glad to do that. if you give me 30 seconds i'll tell you on here. >> okay where's the 18,000,000,000, if you want to get testy about it, let me just say.

i have the numbers and if you're looking at increasing the operating revenue the way that you're talking about, it will become the most expensive operating system, more expensive than chicago, new york, pennsylvania. i. i would you have the highest operating cost out there? what would justify the? >> if you want to look at numbers let's look at them. where the second-largest transit system in america. so that justifies. >> you have the opportunity to travel the world as i have, you go to beijing, shanghai, paris, london, paris, london, moscow and see her world-class system. this has it been in the nation's capital and we are all in this together. those are all communist countries. >> how is paris and london communist country. >> shanghai, moscow, and london, their capital cities. we went to world-class system like they have, the federal government and those countries pay for all of the system. all i'm asking for you is $300 million which is your fair

share given the fact that we transport 50% of your workforce. we do that everyday. you want them to be safe, you want us to be reliable, you just want us to leave here like we did in 2005 and do nothing. if we do that, next time something happens, i'm blaming it on you guys. we need your help. >> you're the one who is but on the board. so how can you blame us? you're the ones making the decision. >> have been on the board one year. when i left this place. it is not operating well now and we need the resources in addition to the wherewithal. >> when can you get this committee of the breakdown of how that money will be spent? >> within a week. >> i yelled back. >> let me just say this. you're never going to have a better chance, you have a chairman and myself have done this lived on this for years, you have a

general manager who is as capable as anybody has ever been. if we leave here today and do nothing, mr. chairman when you are saying you are not good to give us a dime, really? is that what you're saying? we need resources for the system. this is your system. this is my system. you're going. you're going to put your kids, your parents on the system. with the system as it is today, really, give me a break. we really have to step up. i have have reports from 2010, 2011, 2005, where we have done nothing. we cannot leave here and do nothing again. >> the campaign 2016 continued its travel for winners of the student cam competition. it recently visited sparks, nevada to recognize a repeat

winner for her third price documentary on the wildhorse documentary of the united states. then we headed to california to meet with the student cam winners in that state, including a visit to a middle school in san diego where congressman scott peters took part in the ceremony, recognizing students tristan cooper, jackie power and others for their winning. judy chu honored second prize winning anti- chan, and to others for their winning documentaries for social security on a sense of security. it thanks for cable partners, charter, comcast, and time warner warner cable for coordinating visits. be sure to watch one of the top 21 winning entries at 6:51 a.m. eastern before "washington journal". >> white house press secretary josh only says president obama will sign legislation that offers incentives to companies to find cures for the virus, but called the bill meagher. the

bill does not include the funding the president requested. this briefing runs about one hour. [inaudible] [inaudible] >> good afternoon everybody. thank you for the warm welcome. [laughter] i don't have any announcements at the top so we can go straight to the questions. >> a couple of questions about zika. he been critical of congress over that issue.

>> that's a fair assessment. >> yesterday the house passed the senate bill for the zika vaccine and i wondered if you might be willing to talk about that. there's a buildout coming up. >> darling, hate to disappoint. but the passage of that bill that you just described is positive but a rather meager accomplishment. we're talking about earlier, in some ways it's a can do passing out umbrella's and the advance of a potential hurricane. so in on bella might come in handy but it is going to be insufficient to ensure that communities all across the country are protected from a potentially significant impact. that is what we are focused on. you may be familiar with the

expression to be in a day late and a dollar short, in this case congress is two months late and 1,900,000,000 dollars short in providing the assistance that our public health for professional say they need to respond appropriately to the situation. the bill bill congress passed yesterday doesn't include funding. so that's not going to do anything to help local communities across the country that carry this virus or fight the mosquitoes that carry the virus. it's not going to expand access to diagnostic test that would allow people to more easily get tested and get a prompt result from that test, of whether not have the zika virus. all of these are steps critical to ensuring we are protecting the pregnant women and their unborn children from a virus that we know has a devastating impact. so, no i'm not appear to give

congress credit for that legislation. it is a positive step, it is a far cry from what our public health experts tell us is necessary to prepare for the situation. >> developing a zika vaccine is one thing the administration wants to happen. >> again, am not criticizing the legislation that they passed. there's farmer significant significant steps they could take, even as it relates to expediting the production of a vaccine. one of the things we know the private sector does is make decisions based on a commitment from the federal government to be a customer. that is why even private sector entities that we want to partner with to develop, test and have an a vaccine for these vaccines

want a serious commitment. we're talking about a serious virus. i don't understand why congress has failed to make a serious commitment that our public health professionals indicate they need. the director of the nih sat at the podium two days ago and says he does not have what he needs right now in order to do all that is necessary to prepare for this virus. this is a unique unique scenario. we have advanced warning. for the last two months congress has frittered away the opportunity to ensure that we are doing all that we possibly can to protect the american people from a virus that, for most people is not dangerous, but for pregnant women and newborn children it could be incredibly dangerous. that is why the president is seeking to work with congress in a bipartisan fashion to protect the country. >> will he signed a bill?

>> again, having an umbrella and a hurricane me in some situations come in handy, it is insufficient to ensuring that our country is prepared for situation that could have a significant impact. >> the republicans of the house of her she be appropriations committee said they would be inclined for the 1.9 billion for zika by giving your comments you think that's unacceptable question work. >> we know this is a mosquito borne virus. that is unacceptable. why we why we would wait for all of the mosquitoes to be born, to travel across the country and to spread , potentially carrying the disease and before we begin to take steps to fight it, does not make any sense.

it all most makes me long for the days of having the former exterminator could surely offer some advice. in this case, no professional extermination advice is required to figure out what we need to do to protect the country. but maybe we can get tom -- >> switching topics. >> or not. >> can you confirm that russia's flyover. >> the white house is aware of the incident that you described.

in the baltic sea earlier this week there were reports of russian planes find dangerously close to a u.s. naval ship and a polish aircraft. this incident, as you will not be surprised to hear is entirely inconsistent with the professional norms of militaries operating in proximity to each other in international waters, in international airspace. any peacetime military activity must be consistent with international law and norms and be conducted with due regard for the rights of other nations and the safety of other aircraft and other vessels. there have been repeated incidents over the last year where the russian military, including russian military aircraft have come close enough to each other, or come close enough to other air and sea traffic to raise serious safety concerns and we continue to be concerned about this behavior. for more details about the

specific incident and what kind of risk it may have posted to our servicemen and women, i defer to the department of defense. >> we have a variety of channels through which we can communicate with the russians, but i cannot have updates right now but any conversations that have occurred about this particular incident. >> to expect any announcement on anything in syria and iraq question what. >> the president is meeting with the senior members of his national security team at cia headquarters in virginia. it will be part of the periodic set of meetings the president has done with the senior members of his national security team to get an update, detailed update of our ongoing effort to degrade

and ultimately destroy isil. there is a variety of aspects to that strategy so there's a variety of the president's national security advisers participating in the meeting. you have an opportunity to hear drug live from the present the conclusion of the meeting. at this point i'm not aware of any plan to announce any major decisions that are made in the context of the meeting. obviously you will all have the opportunity to hear directly from the president about what he learned in the meeting, why those kind of briefings are valuable as we continued to maximize our core needed strategy to degrade and ultimately destroy isil. >> to what extent do you think that meeting will concentrate on islamic state in syria and iraq cannot places like europe? >> the focus will be on our ongoing campaign against isil and iraq and syria. this is essentially the headquarters of isil if you will.

we know there are extremists in other parts of the world that have fought to establish a safe haven in other places, we are mindful of the risk of they pose the other places as well. at this point i would anticipate the focus of the meeting will be on continuing to degrade and ultimately destroy isil in iraq and syria. >> and the deputy prime minister was talking about the monthly deficit of 100 million, is the ministration open to any kind of budget put forth question what. >> i'm not aware of any updates

we have on this particular situation. if we have news to make on this i will circle back with you. >> does the white house believe the differences in the puerto rico bill they say there's a lot of differences -- >> i will say that we are gratified that congress has continued to make some progress. it has been challenging to continue to nurture a bipartisan process in the house. we have seen a good faith actors on both sides of the aisle, both as a leadership level as it relates to speaker ryan and close a but also at the committee level, the house of national resources committee and try to find common ground that would offer the kind of debt

restructuring authority to the puerto rican government that we know they need. we do have some technical concerns with the way the bill is currently drafted we are concerned with some aspects of it that we believe would not provide them sufficient authority to deal with the challenges they face their. we are also concerned there are some unnecessary provisions in the bill that relate to things like federal lands and worker protections that would only worsen the economic problems that puerto rico faces, particularly when you consider they've already suffered through a long recession. it seems like the inclusion of those unnecessary provisions is unnecessary. >> how do you think these could be ironed out? >> we have been able to make

important progress working in a bipartisan fashion the sport. the release of of where at least the committee putting forward text of the bill is an important progress and we hope we can keep the momentum going. there's there's still some important work to be done here. >> we just talked about puerto rico any medicine like the white house is confident the house will be able to come up with a solution. i like, it seems like your same and so far is less confident in its more complex issue. [inaudible] >> i don't the guys said much to

indicate that i am overly rosy about the prospect of congressional action. i think think we're hopeful and we have seen some positive work done to address puerto rico's challenges while complicated, think in some ways the challenges facing puerto rico have a little more to do with the inherent political obstacles. in some ways it's the classic, this is the kind of case study that you can imagine undergraduate political science courses taking a close look at. you obviously have a problem that is affecting 3.5 million americans in puerto rico but

across the country they do not have, there's not a clear constituency to apply pressure to members of congress to make sure they're doing the right thing. yet when you consider the bondholders were holding the debt, these are almost by definition rich and powerful people who have a clear financial interest in getting a deal that reflects their financial interest in at the interest of the 3.5 million people living in puerto rico. overcoming that dynamic is something that will be challenging for congress to do. it will only be successful if we work in a bipartisan fashion to get on. while it is difficult, it is not particularly complicated. we do know, in fact the kind of re-structuring the party that we want to offer to the puerto rican government is the same kind of authority that is available to municipalities all across the country. there is a template for addressing this problem, should not be that hard to figure out a

way to provide the necessary oversight to ensure that puerto rico follows through on the kind of reform commitments they make in the context of getting this restructuring. so there is a template for addressing this challenge. as it relates to encryption the politics of that situation are no less complicated, but the policy details themselves are also quite complicated, particularly when you consider your dealing with policy environment that is rapidly changing. technology is right believe developing and as innovation are implemented in the market we need to have a policy that does not just resolve the significant political tensions but also can be dynamic enough to anticipate and continue to apply even as the environment changes as a

result of innovation. i think there are two very different challenges, i want to be clear, i'm not that rosy about congress confronting the easy things. again, too often think that are common sense have not gotten done in congress. i think that account for the rather low esteem in which the public holds congress right now. things like waiting two months to do anything to address the potential problem caused by zika and only then passing a piece of legislation that does not include any actual funding that a public health professionals say they need, i think that's an indication that congress struggles to even do the easy things. there's no doubt that working through situation in puerto rico and working through the

challenges of developing a policy to deal with in corruption are even more significant than that. >> has the president been briefed in the senate to deal with in corruption. is there going to be a good faith effort to work with the senate actually come up with something? >> of course we're going to engage with members of congress on this. we have been doing that all along and we will continue to do that in this case. the prospects of congress actually developing and building bipartisan agreement around a good piece of legislation that appropriately balances equities and then taking the additional steps of actually getting it past i think are somewhat low,

but i'm an optimistic guy. i'm happy to be suppressed. >> talk about making the change to a 10-dollar bill, with the white house and the president supportive of the treasure secretary or to leave the dollar bill as it is? would there be a movement to woman on their. >> this is a decision is made at the treasury did level and that's codify. i think what secretary lou has set on this in the past is that he is considering changes to a number of elements of our

currency, not just the consideration of changes in fluting ensuring women are included in our currency beyond just the 10-dollar bill. secretary lewis said that in the past. the for an update in terms of where you we are in the process i'd refer you to the treasury department. >> run the refugee issue, the presence can go to germany later and the germans have taken -- wondering if the president needs to shore up based on some of the refugees and the president's role of taking in refugees, it seems like we've only seen a small amount.

>> i think as it relates to germany, i do anticipate the president will have an opportunity to give credit to the german people into the german government because they have are in some credit. they have done a difficult which is they have offered refuge to hundreds of thousands of innocent people who are fleeing violence in the home country. that has had to strain not just the nation of germany but the entire continent. i think the majority of people in germany have responded with the kind of humanity and generosity that we would like to see, even even in the face of some political criticism the chancellor has focused on implementing a policy that is consistent with the product

knowledge of it of human rights. in the way that we observe what our values and morals tell us about responding to a situation like this. so they deserve credit for that and german people deserve credit for that. as it relates to the u.s. policy here, obviously a situation that the united states faces is different than what the germans are facing. but, in part of that is the president has made clear there will be a rigorous screening process put in place before refugees can enter the united states, what is true is that individuals who enter the united states as refugees go through more rigorous screening than anyone else who attempts to enter the united states. that is going to take some time. i don't have an update for you

in terms of hitting our goal, i'd refer you to the state department that. i know this is something the president has made a priority and he has made clear to the state department it's a priority and i'm confident it will be in implemented accordingly. >> is it true the screening process can be expedited for a number of refugees coming in from syria? >> i know there has been an effort to put additional resources behind this effort that could make the process move more quickly. but i would refer you to both the state department and dhs for an update on that. i'm confident telling you that in no scenario with the standards the weekend before an individual is able to enter the united states under refugee. >> madam secretary we give you 72 of our delegates to the next president of the united states. [applause].

single molko ♪ ♪ ♪ >> the government accountability office made recommendation on ways to eliminate government waste. that oversight oversight hearing is next on c-span2. from the state department gives its global human rights report card. later president obama tends the right house signage there. >> c-span live everyday with a some policy issues that impact you. coming up thursday morning, pennsylvania charles dent will join us to discuss the debate it with republicans legislative agenda and his role as