quorum call:

a

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mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the

majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to executive session for the consideration of calendar number 519 through 545 and all nominations on the secretary's desk, that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, that no further motions be in order, that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the record, the president be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. mcconnell: i now ask unanimous consent the senate now proceed to consideration of calendar number 189, s. 1875. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 189, s. 1875, a bill to support enhanced accountability for united states assistance to afghanistan, and for other purposes. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous

consent -- the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the committee-reported amendment be withdrawn, menendez substitute amendment at the desk be agreed to and that the bill as amended be read a third time. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, the clerk will read the title of the bill for the third time. the clerk: calendar number is 89, s. -- 189, s. 1875, a bill to enhance accountability for united states assistance to afghanistan, and for other purposes. mr. mcconnell: i know of no further debate on the measure. the presiding officer: is there further debate? if not, all in favor say aye. mr. mcconnell: aye. the presiding officer: all opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill as amended is passed. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without

objection. mr. mcconnell: i now ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 438, h.r. 2908. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 438, h.r. 2908, an act to adopt the bison as the national mammal of the united states. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the bill be read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i now ask unanimous consent the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of s. res. 435 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 435, designating may 21, 2016, as kids to parks day. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed. mr. mcconnell: i further ask the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening

action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i now ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following senate resolutions which were submitted earlier today -- s. res. 4458, s. res. 449, s. res. 450, s. res. 451, s. res. 452, s. res. 453, s. res. had 54 and -- 454 and s. res. 455. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measures en bloc. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. mcconnell: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations. calendar number 365 only, with no other executive business in order. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of state, roberta jacobson of maryland to be ambassador of the united states

of america to the united mexican states. mr. mcconnell: i know of no further debate on the nomination. the presiding officer: if there's no further debate on the nomination, all in favor say aye. all opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nomination is confirmed. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, the president be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate then resume legislative. woeubgs. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 445, s. 2845. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 445, s. 2845, a bill to extend the termination of sanctions with respect to venezuela and so forth. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding? without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the committee reported amendment be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to immediate consideration of calendar number 123, s. 1635. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 123, s. 1635, a bill to authorize the department of state for fiscal year 2016 and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the corker amendment at the desk be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn to then convene for pro forma sessions only with no business being conducted on the following dates and times and that following each pro forma session the senate adjourn until the next pro forma session: monday, may 2 at 2:00 p.m. thursday, may 5 at 11:30 a.m. i further ask that when the

senate adjourns on thursday, may 5, it next convene at 3:00 p.m., monday, may 9. following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. i ask that following leader remarks the senate be in a period of morning business until 4:00 p.m. with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. further, that following morning business the senate then resume consideration of h.r. 2028 with the time until 5:30 equally divided between the two managers or their designees. further, that not withstanding the provisions of rule 22, the cloture vote with respect to the alexander substitute amendment 3801 occur at 5:30 p.m. finally for the purposes of rule 22, the filing deadline for all first-degree amendments to the alexander substitute 3801 be at 3:30 p.m. and the filing

deadline occur under rule 22. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until the senate is working on federal federal energy and water projects across the country. it's the first of a dozen bills that cut federal spending next year. several amendments are pending including one that offered by arkansas senator tom cotton to stop the administration from buying iran's -- president obama said he will veto the bill if the amendment is included. house speaker paul ryan said today that house houses getting very close to passing legislation on the puerto rico debt crisis. speaker ryan speaking to reporters on take your child to

work day said of the resource committee and treasury department are working on the legislation. the house is expected to miss the may 1 deadline to help puerto rico deal with the debt totaling $70 billion. this is about 15 minutes. >> good morning. welcome. i want to welcome our new special guests. this is so cute. okay, take our doubters and sons to work day is a wonderful thing. most of it means i have been in today have been with sons and daughters and it's just made it a great day. i look forward to meeting all of you afterwards. i have two items this morning. first, today i invited by

minister modi of india to address joint meeting of congress when he visits washington this summer. india is the most populous democracy and soon it's going to be the most populous country. the friendship between our nations is a pillar of stability in a very important region. this address presents a special opportunity for us to deepen our ties with their ally india. it's a chance to hear from the prime minister and how we can work together to promote our shared values and to increase prosperity. i want to thank chairman royce and congressmen holding for their leadership and commitment to this relationship with india. this will be the first joint meeting of the speakership did we certainly look forward to welcoming prime minister modi in the capitol this summer, i believe it's june 8. second, today the economy clocked in the first quarter at .5%. that's next to nothing.

this is a sign that this is not a healthy economy. this economy is far from its potential. this is why we are passing bills just this week to help boost manufacturing and to help increase startups that there are only so many things we can do in a divided government, so as part of our policy agenda we are going to show the country how it can get our economy back on track. we do not have to settle for .5% growth. we know we can do better than this but for our government and so we need to have an agenda that we take for the country and say here's how you get real economic growth. tax reform could open energy development regulatory relief to keep the economy open to give startups life and breath. america can do better. americans can do better if we look forward to presenting this country with a very clear and compelling choice in i've got to say of all the things that

helped so many of our problems it's getting real economic growth and job creation, wage growth and that is something we have to do. our policies right now are holding us back. this is the eighth year of his presidency in these policies and they are not working and we will offer the country a choice. without i will answer your questions. >> what you said about the obama presidency, president will try to get a bipartisan agenda and republicans will be happy to see obama go and yet -- and ott what is your observation about the end of this period? >> this is the third president i've served with.

he's very dogmatic in pursuit of his ideology and therefore don't see a bridging of the gap because other than age of his presidency. point number two, in spite of that we are still getting things done. look, we have the biggest highway bill in a decade. we rewrote our customs laws. we have the most comprehensive rewrite of our k-12 education laws in 25 years. energy legislation is moving through the system. we have got a tax deal that gives certainty to businesses so we have a lot of bills moving through the committee this week. i think there are still a lot of things that are getting done but honestly the big thing, the big issues, that's what this divided government produce. i don't agree on big issues. we as an alternative party are going to step up and be an alternative party and be a proposition party and show the country would have wrote growth agenda looks like because the policies pursued by this

administration specifically these regulatory policies for duscher rules overtime rules joint employer, that's just from one agency. these are putting a chilling effect on growth. these are compromising the decision so we have to break this logjam with the cleansing clearing election that will give us the ability to actually pass the big things that need to get done to get us back on a path of growth. >> yesterday i spoke about the puerto rico bill and it's obvious we are not going to get it done by the first deadline when payments are due. you said you want to stay way from chaos but enforcing little panic, do you think that actually helps? >> i don't think of it that way. we had a long meeting yesterday. the research committee and treasury department are getting very close but this is very technical in nature and so i

think treasury is working on a good faith resources and working in good faith. they are working to put something together so that when we return from our work period next week we are hoping to have something more specific to deal with. again the goal here is to bring order to the chaos. it is to give oversight the authority they need to make sure they get their fiscal house in order to restructure the debt and to make sure that taxpayers are not involved in this. those objectives will be achieved based on what i know on where these negotiations are going. >> your predecessor called senator cruz quote -- lucifer in the flesh peer to have democratic friends and republican friends. i have never worked with a more miserable son [bleep].

can you describe your relationship with ted cruz. >> correct a much better relationship than that with senator cruz. my job is to help unify the party come to take all pieces of the conservative movement and the republican party and pitch them together especially in a primary. i've a good relationship with both of these men then i'm good to keep it that way. >> correct a question at the beginning about the president's legacy. you said you are supporter of criminal justice reform and the committees are working on it. can you put that though in the context of things you can get on and do you have confidence with the clock ticking this summer that might actually get to the president's desk? >> i am hopeful because the senate has made progress. the judiciary got focused. when judiciary is not that we will go back and don't quote me i believe they have two bills

they want to get out of committee so then we have a package to bring to the floor so we have got four already out of committee. i am hopeful we are on a good path. the committee of jurisdiction got sidetracked for a good cause and they will get back on top of this and then i don't have faces this -- specific timeline because i want to get it done so i think because the progress made in the other body and because four of her bills are up and we have two more we want to get done we are in track for doing that. >> you are seeing a commonality? >> i can't speak to that because i don't know exactly what the senate agreed on but that's what conference committees are about so again regular order is my mainstay and if they pass something fantastic. we will bring the bill to the forwards i believe i'll pass them and it will go to the conference committee. i want to have mark conferences. i want members to go to comfort comfort -- conference could committees.

this is a process i want to see him out the big issues, this among them and i feel like we have a good chance of doing that. >> mr. speaker on ndaa yesterday to mark ndaa yesterday to mark up an amendment passed that would require women to register for the draft for the first time. what is your view of that question and do you have any thoughts about bringing ndaa to the floor with that provision in the? >> we have to bring ndaa to the floor. not doing ndaa is not an option. i'd shared chairman carberry's view of the switches when you take a comprehensive look at the entire selective service process and we shouldn't just do with one issue at a time so i think the mindset is the right one which is look at the entire process and deal with that in a comprehensive way. >> first of all thanks for having me and my 3-year-old daughter here today. >> what is her name? >> olivia. >> hi olivia. >> your chairman endorsed donald

trump -- publicly said that he voted for donald trump of the primary this week. is that a sign that the g.o.p. has started to accept that donald trump will be the nominee this summer? >> oh you think i'm going to comment on this? that comes with a little grain of truth. look, the primary will play itself out. i'm neutral in this process. members are free to endorse or not to endorse however they want to. this will play itself out either the candidate will get the 1237 before for the delegates through whatever round of voting will pick the nominee. my job is to make sure it's done smoothly and by the rules and i'm sticking to that. >> to follow up on that, thank

you for having the children. i am following up on that but if he doesn't hit 1237 that he is 100 or 200 tied. >> rules are rules and we are going to follow the rules and i was asleep at that. >> the rules committee decides the rules. i think you all know how this works and our job is to make sure that the rules are followed to the t. in a very transparent way. that is fair and following rules is a fair thing to do, so we will see what happens. i have no idea what's going to happen, i really don't. [inaudible]

>> put it right in front of the podium. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] is this everybody? [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> all right, very cool. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

will. >> mam president would probably give 72 per delegates for the next president of the united states. [applause] ♪ ♪

♪ >> tonight on c-span2, a house hearing on deportation procedures are immigrants convicted of violent crimes. the senate debates the federal budget and funding for stopping the spread of the zika virus. then later, a house foreign affairs committee hearing on u.s. foreign policy in east asia the head of immigrations and customs enforcement testified at a house hearing about policies governing the deportation of immigrants convicted of crimes in the u.s.. members of congress questioned her about cases of violent criminals released back into the u.s. rather than being sent back to their countries of origin. congressman jason chaffetz of utah chairs this house oversight and government reform committee hearing.