gone through as well. i want to close with the preamble and constitution, delaware is the first state with constitution and pretty good week. the preamble of the constitution begins with these words, we the people of the united states in order to form a more perfect. it doesn't say a perfect union. the ideas always get better, how do we get better. clearly tsa is doing a better job. we are grateful for that and anxious how we can help make that more expeditiously. we want to thank for the office and keep up the good work. last thing is we were in africa about a year ago in family vacation, i heard an old african saying, if you wanting to fast,

travel alone. if you wanting to far, travel together. and in this instance, this is team support we are going to travel together and to the extent we do we are going to go a long way so other people can get to where they go. >> thank you, senator, we do appreciate the enormity of your task, significance challenge, you've really shown that you've taken great strides and the first steps and starting to work in a methodical fashion and we all appreciate. inspector roth, thank you for contribution as well. thank you for your time and testimony, you answered the question, with that, the hearing will remain open, submission of statements for the record, this hearing is adjourned. [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> today senator bernie sanders held a campaign rally here in washington. earlier in the day he will meet with president obama at the white house. see the rally live at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span3.

>> madame secretary, we proudly give 72 of our delegate votes to the next president of the united states. [cheers and applause] ♪ ♪ ♪ >> the senate is about to gavel in for a day of continued work which sets policy and funding levels for defense policy program for 2017. they'll take a procedural vote

on that bill at 11:15 a.m. and could take a final passage vote later this afternoon and now to live coverage of the senate here on c-span2 the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. today's opening prayer will be offered by steve berger, pastor of grace chapel in leipers fork, tennessee. the guest chaplain: let's pray together.

almighty god, king of creation and ruler of the universe, we thank you for your undeniably sovereign, merciful and benevolent hand in the forming, leading, and blessing of these united states. father, thank you for revealing your will and your ways to this nation and its leaders through your sacred, holy word. we pray, therefore, that we would be united in doing what is good in your sight, and what you require of us, to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our god. father, may our leaders and our nation also walk in the faith of abraham, the integrity of moses, the wisdom of solomon, the courage of the prophets, and the self-sacrificing love and compassion of jesus. o god, when we fail to walk in your ways and sin against you and one another, may we be quick to humble ourselves and pray, to

seek your face, to turn from our wicked ways, that you might hear from heaven, forgive our sin and heal our land. remember mercy, o god, and revive us in your ways, that this nation might be blessed for generations to come. we ask all of these things through the name of jesus and by the power of the holy spirit. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. a senator: mr. president? i just want to say. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee.

mr. corker: thank you, mr. president. i rise to speak of pastor steve berger. it moves me to hear his voice echo throughout his chamber. he's one of the preeminent spirit yawl leaders in -- spirit yawl leaders in our nation. he prays daily with his wife, sarah who is in the chamber. he prays daily for our nation. his purity of his mission in leading a church that is making a difference in our state and i think making a difference in our country, leading efforts not only here but around the world to bring people together. i am so thrilled that this chamber and the people of our country are able to witness someone who i believe to be one of the greatest spiritual leaders in our nation. i only hope more people will be able to hear from him truly. a very proving moment for me --

a very moving moment for me to have a friend like steve berger who means so much for our state and country here before us and i want to thank him for his willingness to do this. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee scrrt i want to -- a senator: i want to welcome steve berger and thank senator corker for ranging for him to be here today. letter letter steve is indeed one of our most distinguished tennesseans. we welcome his family and friends in the gallery. the chaplain barry black has reminded us this tradition of opening the senate with a prayer has been with us since the senate began, and the senators had a chaplain since before the first amendment to our constitution was adopted. so this tradition is an essential part of the american character and having steve berger here to help us celebrate that essential part of the american character is a special moment for me as well as for senator corker. thank you.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: president obama's approach to national security policy began with unworkable ideas on the campaign trail and has been marked by some consistent themes, like inflexible commitments to drawing down our conventional military posture if across the globe, like an excessive reliance on international organizations, like a tendency toward the use of special operations forces to train and equip units in other countries. so what do we see as we look back now at the twilight of his presidency? we see increased instability in places like iraq, afghanistan and yemen. we've seen the evolution of al qaeda in iraq into isil and its expansion into libya, syria, and

the sinai. in just a few short months the next commander in chief regardless of party will be faced with the consequences of the president's failed foreign policy and will need to adapt an insufficient defense modernization program to tackle both the challenges posed by terrorism and by adversaries like china, russia, and iran. this is why we need to use the remaining months of this administration to prepare the next administration regardless of party to deal with the news it's about to inherit. that's what we're doing here on the floor right now. the defense bill before us will modernize our military and provide our troops with more of the tools that they need to confront the threats we face. it will help prepare our next commander in chief to confront the complex challenges of today and of tomorrow. it's serious policy, policy that will keep our country safe and after years of this

administration spend and -- spin and failures, that's what our people deserve. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. reid: i just left my welcome to washington which i've been having for many, many years. had about 85 people from nevada, my constituents, our constituents. and they asked me what i'd done in the senate that will i remember. so i told them a few things. they also asked me did i have a regret, and i do. and, mr. president, it takes a lot of gall for me friend, the republican leader, to talk about foreign policy. my biggest regret is having

voted for the iraq war. i was misled as a number of people were, but it didn't take me long to figure that one out. so i became convinced that it was a mistake and i spoke out loud and clear. why was it a mistake? it was the worst foreign policy decision made in the history of our country. that invasion has caused the death of -- no one knows for sure but about half a million iraqis, one half million, 500,000 dead men, women and children. at this stage because of the invasion, we have complete instability in syria. about 300,000 r dead there -- 300,000 are dead there. millions have been displaced, driven into europe and other places. iran is stronger than they would have been but for the war.

the whole middle east is destabilized. when president bush took office because of the work done in the clinton add mtionz -- administration, we had a balanced budget. can you imagine that, a balanced budget? we were spending less than we were taking as a country. we had when bush took office a surplus of ten years of $7 trillion. where is that money now? it's been used with a credit card, a credit card that paid for two wars i repeat, unpaid for, and tax cuts unpaid for. we're now upside down. so for my friend to talk about failed foreign policy, it takes a tremendous amount of mental gymnastics. so we've been clear from the start, enough on the war in iraq.

it's a disaster i disas -- it'sr take will be written about for centuries because the full impact of it is not over yet. we've been clear from the start of this congress that the process needs to stick to the last year's budget agreement. it's the law, maintain parity between the pentagon and middle class and avoid poison pill riders. we vote on senator mccain's bill to add $18 billion in spending. beyond that what congress agreed by bipartisan agreement. in response, senator reed of rhode island, senator mikulski of maryland, they've offered an amendment that would add security and other funding here in america to maintain the parity to which both parties agreed in the budget law passed last year. our amendment would increase funding to combat zika. by the way, we had a briefing

yesterday by the head of the centers for disease control, the man that is in charge at n.i.h., this terrible thing that's sweeping this part of the world where they told us they are desperate for money, desperate for money to do their research to prepare vaccines. it would also our amendment increase money for local police to fight the opioid scourge, to improve our infrastructure around the country, and to do something about the money that has never been provided to take care of the devastation that hit flint, michigan, with the lead in the water. the security of our great country depends on more than bombs and bullets. i support the military. i have my entire career. i know how gallantly they fight, and my welcome to washington today, there was a young cadet there. i brought him up first thing to show him off.

this young man who is one of the finest students in america, could have gone to school any place. not only was he a good student but a good athlete. he chose the military academy. he believes in serving his country. so i do everything i can to support the military. but our security depends on more than bombs and bullets. it depends on the f.b.i., the homeland security, drug enforcement administration, and these many other myriad things that take place in our country that need our attention. so if republicans pass this amendment of senator mccain, they'll have a broken budget agreement and they'll grind the defense appropriation bill to a halt. so we put everyone on notice. we've done it before but let me

reiterate. if they break the budget agreement with the mccain amendment, the republicans will be stopping the appropriations process on the defense appropriations bill. we will not get to the appropriations bill. that's not a threat. it's a fact. the solution this year is the same as last year. stick by the budget agreement. fair treatment to the pentagon and nondefense spending. they should be on equal grounds. mr. president, i see no one on the floor. so i would yield the floor and ask the chair to announce our business of the day. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of s. 2943 which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 469, s. 2943, a bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2017 for military activities of the department of defense and so forth and for other purposes.

mr. reid: mr. president, is the time automatically divided? the presiding officer: it is not. mr. reid: i would note the absence of a quorum and ask the time be equally divided. the presiding officer: the time is not generally divided at all. mr. reid: it's not divided. okay, good. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mr. blunt: mr. president, moi that we success spengd the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. blunt: mr. president, this week as we're debating the national defense authorization act, we celebrate also the 72nd anniversary of d-day,

june 6, 1944, something that no one had ever tried before, a cross-channel landing of size and scope that previously had never been envisioned as a reality by warriors. 160,000 allied troops including 70,000 brave americans stormed those beaches. i had an opportunity a few years ago to visit the cemetery. as i had a chance to go through the cemetery with a belgium guide who had great appreciation for everything that american soldiers had done to try to bring freedom to europe again and who, by the way, able to then come later and spend a summer at the world war i memorial in kansas city, missouri -- but we talked about

the cemetery. one of my sons and one of my grandsons was with us, and they had a chance to identify the two brothers who were buried side by side, the father and son who were buried side by side, the missourians who had given their life at d-day. and then he set us down on this low wall with the atlantic charter -- the atlantic channel, rather, behind us -- the english channel behind us, where the atlantic owings flows in and -- ocean flows in and out. and those 8,000 or so graves in front of us. and then he opened up his computer and had general eisenhower and walter cronkite setting in exactly that same place 20 years after the d-day landing, june 6, 1964. and general eisenhower, former

president eisenhower, said something like this -- he said, "you know, walter, my son graduated from west point on d-day, and many times in the last 20 years i've thought about the family that he and his wife had had chance to rairksz the experience -- to raise, the experiences they've had an opportunity to have, and i've thought about these young men who didn't have that 20 years because of what they were asked to do. you know, particulaly -- particy hearing the person who ultimately asked them to do it, showed the responsibility he felt 20 years later for lives that were lost and many lives that were lost, those bodies were brought back to the united states so that norman cemetery doesn't even begin to reflect the lives that were lost. when he said, many times over

the last 20 years, i've thought about these young men and the life they didn't get to have because of what they were asked to do -- you know, every time we debate this bill -- and this will be over 50 years now of passing this bill every single year. every time we debate this bill, we should think about what those who are asked to defend us do. we should ask about the men and women who are carrying on the legacy of that generation of d-dade and world war ii -- of d-day and world war ii and korea and vietnam and wars before that and after, and we have the obstacles to make sure they have -- the obligation to make sure they have every possible advantage in any fight. frankly, we never want to see americans in a fair fight. we want that to be an unfair fight. we want our -- those who defend us to have the best weapons, the

best training, the best support, the best of everything so that they have every possible advantage when they do what they are asked to do. this bill came out of committee with three "no" votes, strong bipartisan support. it's time to get this work done, as the senate has done for 54 straight years. this will be the 55th year. i'm particularly glad in this bill that this bill takes a new step toward recognizing the sacrifice we ask military families to make. general odierno, the immediate last chief of staff of the army said, the strength of the country is in its military and the strength of the military is in its families. and so this concludes some legislation that senator gillibrand and i introduced last

fall that would for the first time ever give families more flexibility if there is a job opportunity, an education opportunity, a reason for a family i -- many times military families are asked to move to stagoa little quicker, to stay g longer. if this bill passes, if the president signs it, for the first time ever, families without being questioned in any detail beyond whether they meet the conditions of the military family stability act, would be able to say, the person serving is going to go ahead and say as a single serviceperson on the base for another month or two, or three or four even, but we're going to go ahead and move right now so that the kids can start school. or we're going to go ahead and stay a little longer so that the spouse can finish a moment in their career that makes it possible for them to continue to do what they do.

too many of our military spouses are unemployed and don't want to be -- or underemployed and don't want to be because their careers are constantly impacted. the cost of maintaining 0 two residences that those families would now have to bear makes no sense at all. this bill allows us to move forward. the men and women of the armed forces as well as the civilians and the contractors who support them work every day to meet the challenge. they face more than 15 years now of active military engagements, made all kinds of sacrifices so that we could continue to have the freedoms that we have. the bill before us enhances the capability of the military, the security forces, the allied and friendly nations that need to have every opportunity that they can possibly have to have every

advantage, as we work to defeat isil, as al qaeda and other violent extremist organizations are in a place where they are no longer a threat to us. this bill ensures that men and women in uniform have the advanced equipment they need to succeed in any future combat information. it reduces strategic risk to the nation and our military service members by prioritizing the restoration of military readiness to conduct the full range of all its activities. we need the training dollars. we need the training time. we need the airplanes that are younger than the pilots that fly them. and this legislation continues to move forward there. it also continues with comprehensive reform for defense acquisition system that's designed to drive more innovation and ensure more accountability to not take more

time than it needs to take, but to be sure that everything is being done with the interest of the taxpayers and the security of the country in mind. finally, this bill puts the senate on record again against the president's plan to remove detainees -- terrorist detainees held at guantanamo bay. we apparently need to continue to do this over and over again because somebody is just not getting it. i noticed what i think was a front-page article in the "washington post" this morning, another article about the absolute certainty that people who are freed from guantanamo bay over and over again enter the fight, kill americans and our allies. the people that are there now need to be kept there. the obama administration admitted itself earlier this year that americans have been killed by terrorists from

guantanamo. just days before, by the way, that admission came just days before another dozen inmates were transferred out of guantanamo. according to the director of national intelligence, nearly one-third of terrorists who've been released from guantanamo are either confirmed or suspected to be rejoining the fight. one-third -- and those were supposedly the detainees that could be released. those were supposedly the less -- the least dangerous of the detaineesdetainees. the people there now are clearly understood to be the most dangerous, the most likely to be back in the fight, the most likely to inspire others to be in the fight. the number of detainees released under the obama administration who are suspected of engaging in terrorism has doubled since july of 2015, according to the director of national

intelligence. and the president of the united states supports and appoints the director of national intelligence. this is not some outside person suggesting things that the obama administration wouldn't want to hear. this is their director of national intelligence and ours. what we need is a president who has a real plan to defeat terrorism, but this bill -- while this bill can't ensure that, this bill does provide the tools to defeat our current terrorist enemies and continue to secure our liberty. the number-one job of the federal government, mr. president, is to defend the country. the number-one job of those of us in the congress is to be sure that those who defend the country have what they need to defend the country and that those who have served have every commitment that's been made to them fulfilled and then some. it is time, mr. president, to

pass this bill for the 55th straight year to do what we should do for those serve and protect us. and, mr. president, i believe there is an absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: i ask further proceedings under the quorum call be suspended and i be recognized. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: ask unanimous consent that the be engage in a colloquy with the senator from south carolina. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: mr. president, we'll have a vote here, i think, around 11:30 on my amendment that would increase funding under o.c.o. to address the consequences of an $18 billion shortfall from last year. i mean, all the reports we hear from the military is that sequestration is killing them. the mismatch of what we are now seeing in the world as compared

with a continued $150 billion less in fiscal year 2011 is putting the lives of the men and women who are serving in this nation in danger. now, i'm told that there's going to be a lot of people that vote against this increase of just bringing it up to last year's number, an increase of $18 billion. i say to my colleagues, you vote "no" on this and the consequences will be on your conscience because if you ask any leader in uniform today in the military, they will tell you that the lives of the men and women who are serving this nation in uniform are at risk. i think we have a greater obligation, and i don't -- and that is the men and women who are serving in the military. the chief of staff of the united states army said we are putting the lives of the men and women serving in uniform at greater

risk. that doesn't come from john mccain or lindsey graham. talk to any military leader in uniform and they will tell you that sequestration is killing them. planes can't fly, people -- parts of the military can't train and equip. we have two of our combat brigade teams that are fully ready to fight. look at the world in 2011 when we started this idiotic sequestration and look at the world today. my colleague serves both on the armed services committee and spent about 33 years as a member of the united states military, a regular visitor to kabul and baghdad. i think that he understands that what we are doing with sequestration and voting against this amendment in my view is putting the lives of the men and women who are serving in danger. have no doubt about