12:30-2:15 eastern for their weekly party meeting. later they could be a vote on the conference report. also vote on short-term faa funded. senators hope to do with defense spending and the zika virus funding before they adjourned before the sun number -- the summer. now to live coverage here on c-span2. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. our father in heaven, hallowed may your name be honored.

today, lead our senators along the road of humility so that you can exalt them in due time. may they have the wisdom to reap the bountiful harvest that comes from planting the seeds of lowliness and reverential awe. lord, make them wise and strong, as they face national challenges that threaten our freedoms. guide them, strong deliverer, for they are pilgrims in time who are headed for eternity. continue in everything to work for the good of those who love you, who are called according to

your purposes. keep us, o god, so dedicated to you and your purposes that we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you. we pray in your majestic name. amen. the president pro tempore: pleae join me in reciting the pledge f allegiance to our flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: today the city of dallas will hold a memorial service in honor of the five police officers slain in the senseless shooting during last week's peaceful protest. the victims who are, like law enforcement officers in each of our communities, willingly put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe. their loss is a tragic reminder of the courage and selflessness they possess. just as it is a reminder of the burden their families bear on our behalf, today we remember each of them. i know i speak for the entire senate in saying our hearts are

with the families and friends of each of these victims, the others wounded, the entire law enforcement community, and the city of dallas. our nation experienced a great deal of suffering and heartbreak last week. we must come together now to overcome these tragedies and allow healing to prevail. mr. president, on an entirely different matter, angie was a beautiful girl with a heart of gold and a smile that would light up a room before her life was changed by heroin. angie described her addiction to her mother saying, "mom, i need this drug like i need air to breathe." it would take angie experiencing an overdose and her mom begging her to quit before she agreed to seek treatment. unfortunately, though, like so many addicts, angie left the treatment facility and started using again.

she told her mother, "i'm in a black hole, and i can't get out." angie would end up dying from an overdose, her body dumped callously at the bottom of a muddy creek by her drug dealer. tragically, angie's story is just one glimpse into the widespread prescription opioid and heroin epidemic sweeping our country. in fact, drug overdoses now claim 129 lives a day in america. the families of these victims know more must be done to prevent others from enduring the pain of drug addiction and overdose. antidrug groups and law enforcement officials also know more must be done to prevent the widespread loss communities have experienced at the hands of this crisis. that's why nearly 250 antidrug and law enforcement groups across the country have voiced

their support for the comprehensive addiction and recovery act conference report. just last week, these groups collectively sent a letter urging passage of this legislation, which they called a truly comprehensive response to the opioid epidemic. that represents the critical response we need. these groups represent states from coast to coast, from life house recovery connection in california to justice and recovery advocates in maryland to friends of recovery in new york, among dozens and dozens of others. they've seen the crisis firsthand, and they know the positive impact this bipartisan comprehensive response can have. here's what i mean: the national association of counties and the national league of cities have asked congress to act quickly and pass the cara conference report. they call it a pivotal step

towards stemming the tide of this epidemic. the addiction policy quorum has warned congress not to play politics by blocking passage of this cara conference report. they call it a monumental step forward, a tipping point to better addressing the paralyzing opioid epidemic. the faces and voices of recovery has urged support, too. they call it the most expansive federal bipartisan legislation to date for addiction support services, and they say it can help save the lives of countless people. and the fraternal order of police has asked congress to adopt the conference report on behalf of its more than 330,000 members. they call it another tool to reduce the deaths from this epidemic. so we're just one step away from sending this legislation to the president's desk. the house overwhelmingly passed it by a vote of 407 to 5.

with continued cooperation, the senate can send it to the president this week. remember, this senate has provided more than twice as much funding for opioid-related issues as under the previous senate majority. let me say that again. this senate has provided more than twice as much funding for opioid-related issues as under the previous senate majority. the passage of cara would represent another crucial step toward combating this crisis. of course, this wouldn't have been possible without the unwaiving commitment of senators grassley, ayotte, portman moving is forward. serving as voices for the voiceless and working across the aisle to develop this comprehensive response, these senators were resolute in their sport, in no small part, communities will be better

equipped to prevent opioid abuse in the first place, just as they'll be better-equipped to save lives and foster treatment and recovery. i also want to recognize the work of democratic members like senator whitehouse and senator klobuchar for their efforts to help garner support for this bill and help move it through the legislative process. there's no reason every senator shouldn't support it now. the sooner we send this bill to the president's desk, the sooner we can help our communities begin to heal from the prescription opioid and heroin crisis. and another way to do that is by passing the conference report that would fight zika and enact record levels of funding for veterans medical services, including millions for substance abuse and treatment. democrats are clearly very nervous about their decision to attack women's health and veterans with a filibuster of the anti-zika funding bill. who can blame them? they've put forth a variety of tortured excuses that don't stand up to scrutiny.

they've offered a proposal they hope would provide political cover by ditching funding for our nation's veterans. that's really clearly not a solution. i don't know how democrats plan to explain any of this to veterans this summer. i certainly don't know how democrats plan to explain this to pregnant mothers. either democrats believe zika is a craze that requires immediate action -- a crisis that requires immediate action or they do not. republicans believe we ought to pass this bill because this is a crisis. our friends across the aisle will have to decide if they feel the same or if a partisan political group is worth delaying funding to protect families from zika or funding our veterans. there's only one option to get anti-zika funding on the president's desk before september, and that is passing the compromise zika control and veterans funding legislation that is before us and sending it down to the president for signature. the rules don't allow for a

conference report to be amended, and repassing the same bill that went to conference won't put a bill on the president's desk. it won't create a vaccine. it won't kill a single mosquito. and it won't help a single pregnant mother. so let's do the right thing for our nation and pass the legislation that is before us. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. reid: the tortured explanation by my friend, the republican leader, this morning about two important issues -- opioids and zika -- are an indication of why the republicans will no longer have the majority come election day. it's very clear that you can't go on doing what they're doing and expect people to support

you. in the morning we're going to vote on opioid legislation. it's important we do that. everyone in this chamber knows we have to do something to stop this epidemic. it's claimed the lives of too many americans, and it's doing it every day. while the cara conference report is a start, it's a missed opportunity to do something really substancive to stem the number of opioid overdoses across the country. the reason for that is the republicans refuse to allocate money for this legislation. to have my friend talk about, we've done twice as much as we did under the previous majority ... why wasn't anything done before? because it was filibustered. we couldn't do it. there is not enough money to do all the authorizing we've done for these programs. there is not enough money.

in conference, republicans again rejected our efforts to insert funding into the report. authorizing legislation is a start, but without resources, it's very, very meaningless. without any real funding, the conference report comes up really short. for example, editorials around the country -- i'll pick on one. "the new york times" editorial board said as much this morning in their piece entitled "exong is voting on -- congress is voting on an inadequate funding bill." "congress is about to pass a bill meant to deal with the nation's opioid epidemic. it contains some good ideas, it will also be far less effective than it should be. the senate expected to vote on this measure o approved in the

house on friday. it would authorize programs to stem what has become a scourge and disgrace. more than 28,600 overdose deaths occurred in 2014. it's gotten worse, not better. but this legislation contains not a penny to support any of these initiatives. the bill would allow the federal government to award grants to states to treat people who are hooked on prescription painkillers and illicit drugs like heroin, in congress, however, getting a program authorized is only half the battle. republicans say they will allocate funding after a seven-week break that begins at the end of this week and ends after labor day. yet there's no good reason for congress to put off a vote on funding, given the urgency of the problem." close quote. the editorial, though, ends with a further caution, and i quote again:

"many lawmakers, especially those who are up for reelection, clearly want to show voters that they're doing something about opioids. this billamounts to progress but will not change the trajectory of this help." -- of this epidemic." close quote. that says it all. without real funding, this legislation is far from adequate you want to stop the increasing number of opioid overdoses, then we need to get serious about finding a way to do it, and one way is funding our nation's response to this scourge. so i repeat, it is no wonder that there will be a change in the majority of this body with what went on as evidenced by this morning's statement by my friend, the republican leader. to talk a tortured explanation

on zika, mr. president, the zika problem we have in america today is significant. last night 39 new cases were reported in one day in america. this mosquito is ravaging, there are basically two breeds of mosquitoes that are causing this problem, and they're vicious. they're awful. mosquitoes have been bad for generations at making people sick and having people die, but this is new. never in the history of all the problems that mosquitoes have caused have they caused birth defects, but they do now and they do it big time. the president is aware of the issue. he's aware of the issue.

it's a very, very frightening thing for our country. in may the senate passed a bipartisan compromise to address this crisis. the bill wasn't perfect. the legislation called for $1.1 billion in funding. it was well short of the $1.9 billion health experts said was needed to address the crisis, but it was okay. it was certainly a step forward, and 89 senators agreed it was a good step forward. democrats and republicans. the senate compromise, at the very least, was a step in the right direction. that's why in spite of our serious reservations about the lack of adequate funding, we voted for this legislation, and i'm glad we did. the overwhelming majority of republicans voted for this bill, and i'm glad they did. the zika compromise passed, as i said, with 89 votes. only the most extreme conservative members of this body voted against it.

that was two months ago. but since then it has become increasingly clear in the last two months the republicans are not serious. they're playing games again because they're not responding to the threat posed by these mosquitoes, by this horrible, horrible condition they cause in human beings. instead of working to send a bill to the president's desk, republicans derailed the bipartisan response. 89 senators voted said that to the house of representatives. there was a conference. the republicans chose a very reckless approach. what went on here in the senate, they ignored. even as more and more americans get infected every day. there's almost 4,000 people in the united states and territories that have zika right

now. at least 600 pregnant have shown evidence of infection. we don't know how many of those pregnant women who have this infection, this virus, are going to bear very, very sick babies. we don't know how many, but it's going to be a lot. we should be working to fight zika. we should be working together. we should be providing public health experts with the tools they need to fight this virus. it's not being done with what the republican leader says. in the senate, we're stuck in limbo as the republican leader forces an unnecessary re-vote on his failed proposal we got from the house of representatives. and apapproved by republicans in the senate, this conference report. we don't need to vote on this again. we voted on it and it was

rejected. why? very good reasons. this was an abomination of a conference report. it restricts funding for birth control provided by planned parenthood. my friend talked about pregnant women. we don't want to talk about pregnant women. we want to talk about women who don't want to get pregnant. where do they go? the vast majority of women in america go to planned parenthood. millions go, and this legislation that the republicans are trying to foist on the american people stops them from being able to do that. it restricts funding for birth control provided by planned parenthood. planned parenthood is a whipping boy for the republicans. it exempts this legislation, also exempts pesticide spraying from the clean water act. they had to do something to whack the environmental community. they had to get planned parenthood. so here's what we're going to do

to whack the environmental community. we'll just not have the clean water act apply. veterans funding, my friend, the republican leader, talks about veterans funding. understand -- understand that the legislation is being proposed to help fight zika, takes $500 million -- one half billion dollars -- from the veterans program. that money was to be used for processing claims for veterans, which are way behind. we need that extra money. that's going to be gone. the so-called salvation of the zika program rescinds $543 million from obamacare. right now i could raise a point of order. that would go. that would be gone. it rescinds $543 million from obamacare. they have he to do this.

they're -- they have to do this. they're so ideological. let's go after planned parenthood, let's go after the environmental community. let's make sure we do something about obamacare. and just for good measure, because ebola is not an emergency this very second, let's take more money from that. two years ago it was a big emergency, and it will be again. ebola. and just for good measure, to satisfy the right-wing, as speaker bay -- boehner called them crazies over there, they said we'll strike a provision on the confederate plague. it -- confederate flag. it was in the house bill. how's that for an effort to do something constructive. we know the senate won't pass the conference report.

president obama won't sign it into law. we should pass the bipartisan compromise as soon as possible. my friend said we can't amend a conference report. of course, we can do anything here. with unanimous consent, we can do all kinds of good things. but that's the obvious and responsible path forward. we need to get this legislation to the president's desk. in order to do that we must bring the zika compromise legislation before the senate as a stand-alone. i tried yesterday to do that. i asked unanimous consent the senate move to the compromise legislation, the senate vote on that passage. but despite the previous support for this bipartisan legislation, the republican leader objected. the senate democrats are not going to be deterred. is there a state in the aoupb that is going to -- state in the union that's going to suffer more than florida? no. so the senior senator from

florida is going to come to the floor in a little while, this morning, and he's going to consent that, ask consent that e senate proceed to the dick compromise as a stand -- to the zika compromise as a stand-alone bill. florida has been hit really hard. yesterday there were new cases reported. ing according -- according to tm beach coast" it brings the number of affected floridians to almost 300, including 43 pregnant women. so i hope they will agree to the request by senator nelson. we're willing to work with republicans to get this done so the senate can adjourn for the seven-week long vacation once we get this done. our public is facing an emergency. opioids, zika is only words from the republicans.

and i repeat for the third time this morning, it's so clear why the reupbz are going to -- the republicans are going to lose the majority of the united states senate. all you have to do is listen to what the republican leader had to say today. the presiding officer: under the previous order the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the conference report to accompany s. 524 which the clerk will report. the clerk: conference report to accompany s. 524, an act to authorize the attorney general to request grants to address the opioid prescription drug abuse and heroin use. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the time until 12:30 p.m. will be equally divided between the two leaders or their designees. mr. durbin: mr. president, five months. five months, that's how long it's been since the national

institutes of health and the centers for disease control and prevention formally asked the united states congress to respond to a public health emergency to combat the zika virus. five months. in that time we've seen the number of americans infected with zika soar to 3,667. of those, 599 are pregnant women. in illinois, 26 confirmed cases of zika. five months. to date, seven infants have been born with zika-related birth defects in the united states. five pregnancies have ended because of zika-related birth defects. five months. last week utah health officials announced the first u.s. death related to the zika virus. five months. in puerto rico where this situation gets worse by the day, officials reported a one-week

jump of 40% in the number of pregnant women on the island diagnosed with zika. five months. 3,667 americans to date infected with zika, that we know. 599 pregnant women, 7 babies born with severe birth defects. five ended because of the virus and the first zika related death. five months since the president of the united states said this is a public health crisis. the republican-controlled congress has waited five months to respond to this crisis. and now we're on the verge of leaving town for seven more weeks, until september, after the conventions. and we'll leave without providing our federal health agencies the money they urgently need to fight zika.

by the time congress returns, it will be seven months since the president asked congress on an emergency basis to deal with this public health crisis of zika. every single american should be disgusted by this and every single member of congress should be embarrassed. what is perhaps most infuriating about this situation is that we have a bipartisan zika funding bill ready to go. and the president would sign it tomorrow if he could. in may the senate passed a bill. ao*eupl concede it was three months after the president asked for it, but we did pass a bill. we had 89 votes supporting a bill to provide $1.1 billion to fight this public health disaster. it was less than the president asked, but with good faith bipartisan effort supporting mosquito control programs, lab capacity, surveillance efforts,

the maternal health services, it wasn't the bill that democrats would have written and the president asked for. it wasn't really the bill that republicans wanted to start with. it was a bipartisan good-faith compromise. but what happened to that bill after it left the senate? instead of that bipartisan bill moving through the house and quickly to the president, it went into a conference committee, and that's when things went terribly bad. right before adjourning for the 4th of july recess, the house republicans decided to take our bipartisan bill with 89 votes and load it up like a right-wing christmas tree. they decided to attack environmental protection by overturning the clean water regulations. they decided to block money to women's health providers. most people remember when the republicans were prepared to shut down the government of the

united states over the funding of planned parenthood. now in in bill that they've sent back to us from conference, they're prepared to shut down our response to this public health crisis of the zika virus in order to defund planned parenthood. it also undermines the affordable care act, which has been a traditional whipping boy of the right wirntion and it -- right wing, tanned raid -- and it raids ebola funds. they made it as disgusting and repugnant politically as it could be. and, remember, they said we don't need ebola funds. turns out we do. to this day, the c.d.c. still has 80 disease specialists stationed in west africa. a few months ago there was an ebola cluster in guinea. in order to respond to that outbreak, that unexpected outbreak, the c.d.c. had to vaccinate 1,700 people, track

240,000 people through -- 20,000 people through surveillance, open five emergency operation centers in two different countries p much the republicans say, well, we'll just take the money away from ebola. maybe things will work out fine in africa. the republican bill proposes decimating our ebola prevention funding and diverting the resources. the majority leader and the majority whip claim the house zeke bill is a compromise and bipartisan-- --the zika bill a compromise and bipartisan. it is not a compromise and it is not bipartisan. not a single democrat signed the conference report that came out of the house, despite the fact that 89 senators of both parties had voted for bipartisan funding in the senate, when they took it into conference, it turned into a political football. this is a cynical attempt by the republicans in the house to hijack a public health crisis and push a grab bag of their

favorite unrelated poison pill ride he is. that's why their bill, as shown by the vote here last month is a nonstarter in the senate and it is a nonstarter with the american people. what is being lost during this entire posturing and politicizing is the very real toll that zika is particularring. during the past five months we have discovered new and alarming things about zika. we know that the zika virus can be transmitted through sexual contact. women infected with zika in their first tr trimester face a% likelihood of a baby born with a serious problem. even if a pregnant woman doesn't show any signs of infection, her baby can be born with serious physical and neurological disorders. five months since the president asked for funding, this republican-led congress just can't get it right. 89 senators, democrats and republicans, came up with a bipartisan answer, and they

couldn't get it through the house of representatives, and we sit here today languishing in this political mess. researchers are examining the links to other negative health consequences. eye infections that lead to blindness, autoimmune disorders that cause paralysis related to the zika virus. and what about the impact of maternal stress on the baby? i spent the last several weeks meeting with maternal and fetal health care providers and community health leaders in chicago. just yesterday down in the bel bellville area, and they have shared with me the fear and stress their patients are experiencing. hundreds of pregnant women in illinois are seeking care and advice from doctors. they've undergone tests to make sure that their babies are safe. sadly, three of those illinois women have learned they are already infected with zika. i'm sick and tired of this political game being played by

the house and senate republicans when it comes to a public health crisis. the president got it right five months ago. why can't this congress get it right now? before we leave for this seven-week vacation. enough is enough. it's time for the republican majority in the house and the senate to do their job, respond to this public health crisis, in a sensible, bipartisan way, just as our bill that passed the senate with 89 votes addressed. instead of making this a political test for the most outrageous claims. oh, did i mention the fact that in conference the house and senate republicans decided to add another provision when it came to this public health crisis? that provision would allow the display of confederate flags in veterans' cemeteries. give me a break. what wha does that have to do with this public health crisis or honoring our men and women in the military or veterans who have served our country so well?

mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. enzi: as chairman of the budget committee, i come to the floor on a regular basis and give some bad news, hopefully in small doses. if the small doses don't work, i'm going to have to go to bigger doses. but we do have a crisis of overspending, and we're going to have some more opportunities to talk about spending. private-sector pensions are what i'm going to talk about today. private-sector pensions are relied upon by millions of americans for retirement security. they're agreements that are made between an employer and its employees or a union and its members, which allow the recipients to receive payments in retirement. those payments are based on a formula that includes a number of factors, including years of service.

now, i've worked on pension policy for all of my professional lievment i've dealt with -- professional life. i've dealt with peptions as a young -- i've dealt with pensions as a young accountant, a member of the wyoming legislate tiewrks a member of the senate pensions committee, chairman of the senate pensions committee, member of the senate finance committee, chairman of the senate retirement security subcommittee, chairman of the senate budget committee, and chairman of the conference committee on the 2006 pension protection act that saved pensions for thousands of workers without wholesale business bankruptcy. i also authored the 2006 pension protection act which dramatically altered the funding rules and made single-employer pension plans much more stable. the act also made significant changes to define contribution plans that drastically improved participation. i believe it's safe to say that i speak today from my experience as a member of this body with a

large background in pension policy, and i'm concerned about where we're heading. out of the 24,361 single-employer pension plans that we have information on, 4,486 are underfunded. the most recent actuarial estimations of the underfunding by the pension benefit guaranty corporation is over $758 billion. that should concern us because the assets of the pension benefit guaranty corporation single-employer insurance program are $85 billion. let's see ... underfunded by $758 billion. that's rounding it down actually. it should be $759 billion, with

assets of $85 billion. now, mr. president, let me say that again another and say is it again. the insurance program nor that $-- for that $758 billion only has $85 billion in assets. but that's not even our biggest pension problem. out of the 1,361 multi-pension plans, that means the collectively bargained agreements that we have information on, 1,238 are under-if younder--- underfunded. the most recent actuarial estimates are just over $611 billion. so what are the assets of the pension benefit guaranty corporation? $1.9 billion. in other words, the safety net for $611 billion is $1.9 billion. i'd edwhait to trying to -- i'd

equate that to trying to catch a whale with a net made for minnows. the pbgc wrote that it's more likely than not that the multiemployer program's assets will be depleted in 2025. the program is on track to become incovelet in less -- in solvent in less than a decade. central states trucking goes under, it will reduce that amount considerably. altogether, private pensions are underfunded by $1 .35 trillion. or $1,350 billion. that's the private-sector pensions. on top of that, per the most recent actuarial data available for state and local pensions, the total amount of underfunding in the public-sector pension

plan is $1.2 trillion or $1,200 billion. so, mr. president, the total amount of unfunded liabilities in both private and public-sector pension plans is around $2,600 billion. that means that these pension plans have agreed to pay out $2.6 trillion more than they have available. for reference -- again, $2.6 trillion is $2,600 billion. and it's more than double what our current annual spending is that congress gets to make decisions on. that includes defense, transportation, agriculture, and education. twice what we spend on the things we get to make decisions on. i've heard from some of my colleagues who've come to the senate floor and speak to the troubling predicaments of

specific pension plans. many of them are currently advocating for shoring up the united mine workers of america pension plan, which is just one of the 1,238 union pension plans that are underfunded. i'm concerned about this for several reasons. first, if we take the steps my colleagues are advocating for with regard to the united mine workers, what are we going to do with the next underfunded pension plan that comes around looking for assistance? and what about the plan after that? there are hundreds of private-sector pension plans in critical, endangered, or declining status throughout america today. so i'm not sure how congress would help the united mine workers and not the others. paraphrasing president washington, "we're walking on untrodden ground. there is scarcely any part of our conduct which may not hereafter be drawn into precedent." i frequently heard my colleagues

try to differentiate this case by speaking of a promise of a pension that was made to retirees in this particular union. but that agreement was between the members and the union. it was not an agreement with the federal government. second, i find it necessary to remind my colleagues that this country was -- is $19 trillion in debt and consistently increasing our spending. we don't have the known shore up pension plans. and to be clear, despite proponents arguing that this legislation is paid for by coal company contributions to the abandoned land mine trust, in reality, it would be paid for by the taxpayers. the surface mining control and reclamation act is funded by a tax levied on mining operators per tonnage of coal harvested. interest from the abandoned land mine fund can currently be transferred to three trusts to support united mine workers health care benefits of orphan

minors. orphan minors are of companies that no longer exist. if they don't cover these health care costs, the three united minor health care plarns are entitled to payments from the u.s. treasury. the interest payment payments an not sufficient to meet the three united mine workers' health care plan needs. soy the general fund of the treasury -- so the general funds of the treasury provides the balance. for example, in fiscal year 2012, interest from the abandoned land mine fund paid $48.4 million towards the health care funds and the u.s. treasury general fund, the taxpayer dollars, provided $205.6 million. $48 million to $205.6 million. so the a.l.m. interest cannot take on another obligation.

now they're asking taxpayers to pay even more to -- more than the health care for the u-- united mine workers beneficiaries. as imansed, the a.l.m. trust is funded by a tax levied on coal harvested. the key word is "harvested." it breaks my heart to say this but according to the u.s. information administration, u.s. coal harvesting is projected to be down over 25% this year compared to 2014. that's due in large part to mercury toxic standards rule, the stream protection riewcialg the clean power plan, the freeze on federal coal leases, the proposed increase in coal royalty rates, and everything else the administration is doing to shut down coal. less coal being harvested means less taxes will be paid into the abandoned land mine trust fund.

as those abandoned land mine dollars dry up, more and more of the money this bill proposes to use for united mine workers' health care and pensions will come from taxpayer dollars. again, i'll point out that this agreement was made between the members and the union, not between the members and the american taxpayer. mr. president, that bears repeating. the united mine workers agreement was made between the members and the united mine workers. not between the members and the american taxpayer. it's also worth noting that the abandoned mine land fund is not unique? that it is compromised of fees paid by a specific user base. one of the most significant pension problems we hear about today is central state pensions fund includes a large number of truckers. that fund is going broke. i want to offer my colleagues an analogy using that fund. to be sure, there are roads to

drive on. truck be companies pay a higher tax on diesel fuel as well as taxes on truck and trailer sales, heavy tires and heavy-vehicle usage. together with the tax that all consumers pay on every gallon of gasoline purchased, these taxes fund the highway trust fund. this trust fund for highways builds roads and pays for repairs and new bridges that the trucking industry and all drivers rely on. using a dwindling a.m.l. trust fund would be like shoring up the central state's pension fund with the funds that build highways because truckers pay into the highway fund. that is what the united mine workers is asking us to do. my guess is if we examined all the pension funds in critical, declining or endangered status, we could probably identify a fund that relevant employers or employees paid into in some way. if we go down this road, what's to stop those funds from being

raided to shore up the kwau stkeu-relate -- quasi-related pension. i worry about the claims we're helping all coal miners with this proposal when in reality the policy does absolutely nothing for miners that are not members of the united mine workers. according to to the bureau of labor statistics, nearly 11 thousand workers in the coal industry have lost their jobs in the last year largely due to this administration's policies. yet, my colleagues have proposed the bill that would help only a portion of those people and the bill wouldn't help put those folks back to work. developing the energy source that generates 33% of america's electricy last year. instead proponents of this bill are saying if you're a member of the united mine workers of america, we want to help you with your health care and benefits, pensions. but if you're not, if you want your job back, then too bad. mr. president, i am not without

sympathy for the united mine workers coal miners. remember, i helped miners get their health care. coal miners play an intricate part in our economy and america runs on coal. nothing is more evident than that than wyoming which produces more coal than the second through sixth states in coal production combined. i have the deepest respect for coal miners and i'm worried about those who have been laid off in wyoming and across the country. i understand the unique health care needs of miners, and i respect the health care promise this country has made to the miners over many decades. i have supported those health care needs in the past. most specifically by working across the aisle to shore up the three united mine workers health care funds back in the mid 2000's. i believe it's important that coal miners continue to receive quality health care.

i also believe that it's crucial that they as well as all americans have the opportunity to live out their retirement years in financial solvency. but i also want america to remain financially solvent. i don't believe the efforts of my colleagues advocating for this united mine workers bill helps the united mine workers in a way that's fair to the federal taxpayers or the other coal miners across america. i also know the troubling truth about some of america's pension plans, as i pointed out on this chart, that are underfunded. as well as the faces of the participants within those plans. i've met with them. i've heard their stories throughout my professional life. there are facets of our retirement system that we can fix to help retirees, but i remain concerned about the use of federal tax dollars to shore up specific pension plans and to make false promises. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. nelson: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator florida. mr. nelson: mr. president, i ask consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. nelson: mr. president, i came for the purpose of asking unanimous consent with regard to zika. i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of h.r. 5243, which is at the desk, that after all -- after the enacting clause be stricken, that the substitute amendment, which is the text of the blunt-murray amendment to provide $1.1 billion in funding for zika, be agreed to that there be up to one hour of debate equally divided between the two leaders or their designees, that upon the use of -- or yielding back of time, the

bill, as amended, be read a third time and the senate vote on passage of the bill, as amended, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. mcconnell: mr. president, reserving the right to object -- the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: let me just walk through this one more time. in case anybody is confused about where we are, as i said yesterday, republican senators are eager to pass the conference report, which is before us, and send it to the president's desk for signature. we should do that today, this very day. that would accomplish several important things before we leave for the week. first, it would provide $1.1 billion in immediate funding to combat zikas. that's the exact amount of money

in the democrats' request. however, the democrats' request includes only funding for zika and leaves the rest of the important priorities behind. the conference report that the house passed includes full funding for zika, funding for military construction, funding for veterans' programs, and temporary but meaningful reforms to ensure that we're able to combat mosquito-borne illnesses during the summer months, which are upon us. so we should pass the conference report today. this very day. therefore, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of the conference report to accompany h.r. 2577 and the conference report be agreed to with no intervening action or debate. mr. nelson: mr. president? the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. nelson: reserving the right to object --

the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. nelson: mr. president, first of all, did i hear the objection from the majority leader? to my unanimous consent? the presiding officer: the majority leader has not yet objected. mr. nelson: okay. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, i believe i reserved the right to object and then offered an alternative consent to which i think the senator from florida is about to respond. mr. nelson: okay. mr. president, reserving the right to object, now here we are in the same old political games. with a must-needed bill, milcon-v.a., a very good bill, attaching a dak bill that is -- a zika bill that is loaded down with poison pills, that takes away the family planning funds, and also takes money out of the affordable care act.

so here again it's the same political games, and for that reason, i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. -- to the majority leader's request. mr. mcconnell: now, mr. president -- the presiding officer: is there objection to the request from the senator from florida? mr. mcconnell: reeseing utah right to db -- reserving the right to object, and i will be objecting, let me just say to my good friend florida that regardless of the substantive arguments that he's making, as a practical matter, if we were to repass the senate bill, it would not pass the house. so it would not achieve the result that we're looking for. so i guess who's playing political games is in the eye of the beholder. but if we want to get an outcome, if we want to get $1.1 billion aappropriated to combat zika and do it now, and we want to fund the military construction bill, the proposal that the senator from florida is at will not achieve that. therefore, i object.

the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. nelson: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator florida. mr. nelson: i would just say to the majority leader that one of the things that the funds in your proposal takes is money from puerto rico and that island, by seeing the unanimous vote that we had -- not unanimous, overwhelming vote that we had last week for a financial assistance plan to help puerto rico get out of their financial woes, well, part of those financial woes is in the health care sector. and we know that experts have told us that 20% of the population of puerto rico is estimated at the end of this summer to be infected with the

zika virus. so there's just one example of why we should not take an approach that is taking money out not only of the affordable care act and taking money away from family planning, but specifically, with regard to its effect upon puerto rico. now, i represent the state that, as i shared with the senate last week, that we had 11 new cases of the zika virus last week. well lo and behold, we now have 13 more new cases, bringing a total in our state to 276, which includes 43 pregnant women. and that's just one of the 50 states in the union, not including the territories. the number of cases being reported across the country

continues to rise. there have been seven infants born in the u.s. with the zika-related birth defects, and you know what i'm talking about because you've seen the pictures of how when the virus attacks the fetus in its development, it does not allow the development properly of the head and of the brain. and the c.d.c. right now, in america, is monitoring 599 pregnant women. the public health experts estimate that caring for a child born with the zika-related microcephaly, it could amount to $10 million in medical costs

over that child's lifetime. now that's just speaking about the dollars. that's not talking about the tragedy. and by that estimate it would cost up to $2 billion to care for 200 children born with microcephaly. that's $100 million more than what this senator and the majority leader had asked for -- and the minority leader had asked for in the first place, reflecting the president's request of $1.9 billion that the experts say is needed to curb the spread of the virus. and that request was made four months ago, and we still haven't done anything about it. so at what point does the majority and the majority leader decide to stop playing these

games and simply do what is needed? mr. reid: mr. president, would my friend yield for a question? mr. nelson: of course. mr. reid: is it true that your family first came to florida in 1829; a long time ago; is that right? mr. nelson: can the senator ask that again. i cannot hear. mr. reid: is it true that your family came to florida right after the turn of the 19th century? mr. nelson: mr. president, through you, i would answer the senator, yes, my family came to florida right after florida was acquired as a territory from spain. yes. mr. reid: and it's true that during your lifetime you've served in various elective offices in the state of florida. as i recall, state treasurer, which included insurance commissioner. you were representing the state

of florida in the house of representatives; is that right? is that true? mr. nelson: mr. president, that is true. mr. reid: and you've been in this body since 2000; is that true? mr. nelson: 15 1/2 years; that is true. mr. reid: is it also true that during your tenure as a floridian, you had the good fortune to be an american astronaut? mr. nelson: not only the good fortune but the great privilege. and now i have that opportunity to work on the policy for the nation's space program. mr. reid: the point i'm trying to outline here for the senator from florida, i think without any stretch of the imagination, you know the state of florida pretty well, don't you? mr. nelson: the good lord willing, i know it pretty much like the back of my hand.

mr. reid: and you stand as much, if not more than anyone else the danger of these mosquitoes who are causing and ravage -lg your state and other states and of course the citizens, american citizens of puerto rico; is that true? mr. nelson: yes, sir. i know that mosquitoes are all over florida but now this one strain, the aegypti it feeds for dinner not on one human, but four. each of those four, if it has the zika virus, you now infected after it's had its dinner. mr. reid: and you understand, i ask the senator from florida, that mosquitoes for generations of time have caused all kinds of medical problems for people that are infected with different bites from the mosquito is that

right? mr. nelson: mosquitoes, if you think of the building of the panama canal, they transmitted the malaria. so mosquitoes are a vector in which to transmit a lot of diseases. and this strain of mosquito can lay its larva in a piece of stagnant water as small as a bottle cap full of water. mr. reid: and it's true, is it not, that in generations past, mosquitoes have caused death and illness that we've tried to handle for the last 100 years. is that true? mr. nelson: that is correct, and we usually meet those emergencies with emergency funding. mr. reid: and isn't it true that this strain of mosquito is now causing for the first time of history that we know, causing not only death and sickness, but

also women giving birth to babies who are very, very ill. mr. nelson: there is a direct link, i would say, mr. president, in response to the senator, a direct link with a pregnant women being infected with the zika virus and the probabilities that she will deliver a child that is deformed. mr. reid: the senator is aware that what we passed out of here by 89 vote was $1.1 billion to give emergency funding to the state of florida and the rest of our states and, of course, citizens of puerto rico. you're aware that we did that? mr. nelson: not only that, but wide by support early on in this whole dialogue, and now we're

seeing the resistance of the majority leader to take up the very bill that passed with overwhelming numbers of bipartisan support. mr. reid: and the senator is aware in that what we got back m the house of representatives that this republican senate signed on to is a bill khas -- which is an abomination. it does, among other things, allow the flying of confederate phragz -- flags on our cemeteries. you're aware it takes money we have today to take care of ebola. they have taken a whack at the clean water act with our inability to spray. the senator is aware that they have, where so many, so many

women go to planned parenthood to handle their women problems that women have, including they want help in not getting pregnant. are you aware that the legislation they sent back to us prevents planned parenthood from being involved in this? mr. nelson: it is a political message that is so resraoeuld by the people -- reviled by the people of america. they want us to get down to the business. if senator mcconnell had a flood or an earthquake in kentucky we would all support him with emergency funding to meet that emergency. we have an emergency now, and why are they will adding all of these poison pills like the democratic leader has just enumerated are in this bill. well, mr. president, i think the

senator from nevada has, with his cross-examination, exposed exactly what is the problem here. and it's too bad. the clock continues to tick. at the end of this week we will go out. we wouldn't come back until the day after labor day. that's the first week of september. and all along the government of the united states is going to have to figure out how it gets the money to local mosquito control districts, how it gets the money to the drug companies to continue the r&d to find and produce a vaccine and all the other health-related expenses. mr. durbin: would the senator yield through the chair for a question, please? mr. nelson: i certainly do. mr. durbin: i would like to ask through the chair of the senator from florida, is it true

that it's been five months since president obama tkhaoe khraeurd this public health emergency and asked the congress to respond to that emergency in a timely way? he asked for emergency funding of $1.9 billion for mosquito abatement for medical research, for expanding lab facilities and investing in developing a vaccine to protect americans if not this year, next year. mr. nelson: it is true, and not only is it true that the president requested it, but -l immediately a whole bunch of us out here filed a bill and brought it to the attention of the senate, and it is now five months later. mr. durbin: i ask the senator through the chair, if you're dealing with a public health emergency, a public health crisis, the potential of an epidemic that we now think could infect 25% of the population of puerto rico is a timely response, an important part of

the congressional response? mr. nelson: amen to that. here we are dithering with these political games. we wonder why is the american public so turned off when they see what's going on up here? and here's one of the very best examples for an emergency. mr. durbin: i ask the senator, and i see my colleague, senator murray of washington, on the floor, who is in a very important position. i believe she is going to address this issue herself in a few moments. is it not true that we worked out a bipartisan compromise in the senate, not to give $1.9 pwh-l -- billion which is our aspiration on the democratic side but at least agree with the republicans in the senate for $1.1 billion to respond to the president's request for an emergency response and that we pass the bill in the senate with

89 votes, an overwhelming bipartisan vote, with an agreement and a compromise in may that this was sent over to the house of representatives in may of this year. mr. nelson: not only is it true, but when something passes out of 100 senators, with 89 votes, that's a pretty strong consensus. mr. durbin: i'd ask the senator through the chair, so we have the president identifying a public health emergency, the president telling us, and the c.d.c. as well that delaying this makes the possibility or probability of an epidemic even worse. we have a response by the senate on a bipartisan basis with 89 votes to provide over $1 billion to the president to get to work to protect america, and to develop a vaccine. and is it not true that the house was given this measure with 89 votes and failed to send

it back to us on a timely basis? mr. nelson: not only is that true, those four things, but then they put in the house of representatives on a very good bill, milcon-v.a. appropriations, and they send it down here thinking that we're going to have to take it at the 11th hour with all of the poison pills which includes the confederate flag. mr. durbin: i ask the senator from florida through the chair, is it also true, the bill sent to us by the house, after we passed a bipartisan bill with 89 votes, the bill sent to us by the house had no democratic signatories, no senators or house members of the democratic party signing onto this conference report which was sent over to us, so it was a totally republican conference report? mr. nelson: not only is that true, but it is also an

indicative of how ideologically driven and how partisan driven so much of the activity here in this u.s. capitol building is, which is what is very distasteful to the american people. mr. durbin: i would ask the senator from florida through the chair, is it also not true, based on the statements made by the republican majority leader, senator mcconnell of kentucky, that he is going to give us one last chance in the next 48 hours to either take this partisan version of the bill addressing this public health crisis or do nothing for the next seven weeks? mr. nelson: and that, of course, i say to the senator from illinois, is such a poor, poor choice. mr. durbin: i would ask the senator from florida a last question. i know my colleagues are waiting to ask this question. your state, the state of florida, appears to be vulnerable, more vulnerable than most states because of your

proximity to puerto rico and other places and the number of travelers coming into the state of florida from areas where we know for certain that the zika virus is starting to be manifest. i ask the senator from florida, what are you hearing back in your state about the need for timely bipartisan effort in congress to deal with the public health crisis of the zika virus? mr. nelson: i say to the senator from illinois, with 276 cases of infection, with 43 pregnant women that we know of just in the state of florida, is it any wonder that five months ago when we filed the $1.9 billion request of the administration, that my colleague from florida, my friend who i get along with,

the junior senator, senator rubio, cosponsored the bill with me. mr. durbin: i said it was the last question. i will ask one more, if i might. through the chair, i would ask the senator from florida, so if you have senator rubio, a well-known republican from florida, and senator bill nelson, maybe the best known democrat from florida, agreeing that this is an emergency that needs to be dealt with on a timely basis, that the president's request for $1.9 billion is a reasonable request, that we pass a bipartisan measure, senate democrats and senate republicans, that we are moving toward solving this problem responding to it, is it not true that this measure fell apart, broke down when it ended up in the republican-controlled house of representatives where they did not take a bipartisan approach to the issue? mr. nelson: not only is that true, i say to the senator, but the fact that this is an

emergency that is always dealt with in the history of this united states senate as a bipartisan thing to meet the situation of the emergency and now this has been used because it is so urgent to get the appropriations to be a political message, ideological, partisan-driven bill. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mr. schumer: i want to thank my colleague from florida for his leadership on this issue and the great questions from the senator from nevada and illinois elucidating. i will just sum up here in a minute. if the republican leader wanted to get something done, instead of putting this bill on the floor again, he would go over to the house and tell them to vote for the bipartisan bill that he voted for and we all voted for,

$1.1 billion. and i'd say something else to my friend from kentucky. when he was in the minority, he kept saying to us leadership means working together. well, he's in charge now and we have a crisis, and instead of working together, he's putting a bill on the floor that had no input from our side, that doesn't do the job and is loaded with poison pills. is that leadership? does that save -- does that show that the senate is working again? he's back to the old ways, when we have a crisis. again, if the majority leader of this body wanted to get something done about zika, he would ask the house to pass our bipartisan bill. instead, he puts the same political document on the floor that shows no leadership, that

shows no bipartisanship and that will not pass, so there is no drama, there is no suspense. i don't even know why he's doing it again. but probably because he knows there's a crisis and he is unwilling, reluctant, afraid to confront the house with their gamesmanship that was driven by 40 freedom caucus members that don't believe the government should spend money on anything. and the only way he could get the votes was to put in all these poison pills which he knew would kill the bill to begin with. so the bottom line is very simple. if the house would put our bipartisan bill on the floor of the house, it would pass, right now. we'd get something done. instead, the very bipartisanship that the majority leader is trying to make as a hallmark of his leadership is being made a joke out of by him putting a

partisan bill that has failed once on the floor once again in the closing days of this session. i would urge the majority leader, it's really on his shoulders to reconsider. i would urge him to make a good-faith effort to get something done. i would urge him not to play the game of putting this bill laden with poison pills, not doing the job on the floor and instead go call speaker ryan and say we've got to get something done, let's do something in a bipartisan way. i yield the floor. mrs. murray: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: i, too, want to thank the senator from florida for his strong efforts to get this done and thank my colleagues who are here speaking as well. there are just a few days left in this legislative session, and i am so frustrated that instead of finally coming out of their partisan corner and getting to work to fight the zika virus, republican leaders, as we just

saw, have doubled down on politics -- on the politics-first approach. it has been more than five months since president obama first put forward a strong emergency funding proposal to respond to zika, and rather than giving that proposal a serious consideration, republicans simply refuse to even consider it. instead, they found excuse after excuse, delay after delay, refused to listen to public health experts and women and families who made it clear that congress needed to act. they tried to jam a partisan political bill through congress on the way out of town on the fourth of july, and that was as we just heard a bill that included harmful political provisions on everything from women's health to the confederate flag to the environment. and now, mr. president, as this republican-controlled congress is headed out of town again, republicans are somehow trying to claim they have done everything they need to do when it comes to zika. they're saying that by putting forward now a partisan bill full

of harmful and unnecessary policy riders, they can throw up their hands and go home. well, mr. president, that might be how republicans in congress want it to work, but the women and families i talked to couldn't disagree more. they are worried about what this virus could mean for their families. they want congress to take action, and republicans should know that democrats are going to keep pushing until that happens. what's especially frustrating is despite all of the partisanship and tea party pandering we've seen from the other side of the aisle, republicans and democrats in this senate did reach an agreement on zika two months ago that got the support of every democrat and nearly half of the republicans. 89 votes. it didn't provide the full amount president obama requested, but it would have been a strong down payment, and it would have helped to accelerate development of a vaccine. it would strengthen vek control in communities across the u.s. and the territories and

critically expand access to desperately needed family planning and other health care services. had republicans been willing to stay the bipartisan course that we set and push aside the extreme members who insist on using women's health every time as a political football, that agreement would now have been signed into law and on its way to communities as we speak. i am deeply frustrated that hasn't happened. this is truly urgent. in fact, just last week, the puerto rico department of health noted a 40% increase in the number of pregnant women with zika on the island. so frankly it is appalling that given what we know about the impacts of this virus, republicans would put an ideological partisan bill in front of us and say my way or the highway. that's why today are here -- or democrats are here giving republicans another chance to do

the right thing. we are urging them to support women and families instead of the tea party and heritage action and join us to get a strong bipartisan emergency funding package to communities at risk because of the zika virus. this bill has already passed the senate, as we know, with 89 votes. democrats supported it, most republicans supported it, so we are here to urge republican leaders do not waste another minute. join us in moving a bipartisan bill forward. women and families across the country have waited long enough for action on zika. let's not make them wait any longer. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. ms. ayotte: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. ms. ayotte: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise today to offer my thoughts and prayers to the five dallas police officers

and their families who were killed in the line of duty on july 7 of 2016. i want to recognize them on the senate floor for the sacrifice that they have made for their heroic service to protect the people of dallas and also to recognize our law enforcement officers for what they do every single day on our behalf. on july 7 of 2016, unfortunately, killed in the line of duty, adding to the roll call and whose names will be added to the law enforcement memorial in washington, are sergeant michael smith, a former army ranger who also served our nation, who had been with the department since 1989. senior corporal lorne ahrens, 48, who had been with the department since 2002. officer michael krol, 40, who

had been with the department since 2007. officer patrick zamarripa, 32, a former navy sealer and iraq war veteran who had been with the department since 2011. dart officer brent thompson, 43, a former marine who had been with the department since 2009. thompson was the first dart officer who was killed in the line of duty since the department's inception in 1989. having served as attorney general for the state of new hampshire and unfortunately having been through with our law enforcement officers in new hampshire, when we lose an officer in the line of duty, this is such a tragedy for the dallas community, but it's a tragedy for our country, and so today we stand with those mourning in dallas, we stand with the law enforcement community, and we stand with all those who serve our nation

because they go out every single day when we're home with our families on holidays, when we are home -- late nights when we're sleeping, they are out in the streets patrolling, keeping us safe. the thin blue line between us and those who want to do us harm. so as we look at what is happening around our nation, law enforcement are the solution to bringing us together. they work in our communities every single day. i have seen the phenomenal work that our law enforcement community does in new hampshire. i have been to the police athletic league and seen what they're doing with the youth in our community. i've seen the outreach that they do every day on this horrible drug epidemic that we're facing in the state of new hampshire. i've seen the difficult situations they face with those struggling with mental illness. every single challenge that they are taking on in our

communities. so today, let us remember those five brave officers who gave their lives in the line of duty, and let's remember all those who have given their lives in the line of duty to keep us safe every single day, because without our brave law enforcement officers, we would not be able to enjoy the freedom that we have, not be able to enjoy our own families and our way of life, and so we're grateful to all of those who serve. we stand with you, and we thank you for what you do every single day on our behalf. to your famie say to you as well, thank you because families do serve as well and when your loved ones go out on our votes to keep us safe, we know you worry about their safe return so we stand with you as well. and we say thank you for your service and sacrifice to keep the rest of us safe. mr. president, i would also like to speak today about a very

important piece of legislation that i hope we will be considering on the senate floor this week. i rise in support of the conference report for a critical piece of legislation called the comprehensive addiction and recovery act otherwise known as cara. i've been working on this piece of legislation now with senators portman, whitehouse and klobuchar for about two years and i want to thank them for their leadership on this legislation and their partnership and the work that we have done along with hundreds of coalition groups that have helped us put this legislation together. cara passed this body in march by a vote of 94-1. mr. president, not much passes the u.s. senate with a vote of 94-1. with numbers like that, it speaks volumes to the fact that every community is facing a heroin and opioid epidemic right now, and we need to take national action. and after conferencing the

senate version with a package of house bills related to opioid abuse, just this friday the house of representatives passed the conference report by an overwhelming vote of 407-5. 407-5 in the house of representatives. those are very powerful numbers in support of this legislation, but i want to touch on the numbers that matter the most and why we need to act on this legislation. like 129, the number of people who die each day in our country from a drug overdose. or 248, the number of stakeholder groups who have endorsed the final version of cara because they know it takes the right legislative approach to fighting back against this public health crisis. that includes some groups from my home state of new hampshire which i have had the honor of working with and i appreciate so much their phenomenal work on the front lines of helping those

struggling with addiction, including hope for new hampshire recovery, hope on haven hill, the kingston's lion club, project recovery from newton, new hampshire, and i know there are many other individuals and groups on the front lines in new hampshire making a difference. cara is also supported by nearly 40 chiefs of police from across our state. the new hampshire association of chiefs of police and the national fraternal order of police. because our law enforcement know that we need a comprehensive response, and i've heard so many times from our police officers we cannot arrest our way out of this public health crisis. another number that is never far from my mind is 439, the number of individuals in my home state of new hampshire who have died from a drug overdose just in the last year with 161 of them who have already died,

unfortunately, just this year alone in 2016. so unfortunately we are looking at even greater numbers with what we see happening on the streets in new hampshire. i will never forget those numbers because they are so much more than numbers. they are the lives of loved ones we have lost, and they represent the overwhelming heartbreak felt by too many families. every time i'm out in new hampshire, i have another family unfortunately that i meet who tells me about their story of losing someone that they love or a loved one that they are trying to get help who's struggling with addiction. that's why in this debate we must give a voice to those who no longer have a voice of their own. we must put faces, names and stories to this epidemic because it is affecting families and communities all across our country. i want to share some stories from those in new hampshire who are driving us to take action because in passing cara, we are

remembering them, we're honoring them and making a change that can help save lives and make sure we have the right legislative framework in place, mr. president, as we push for more funding to get to the states to address this epidemic. i'm spurred to action by these stories and it's my hope that by sharing them here today, my colleagues will join me in passing this legislation. in fact, i just spoke to a woman yesterday, kathy, from plaistow, new hampshire. kathy's son thomas was a hero in his local community. he was compassionate and caring to his peers and even helped a fellow student who was living alone in the woods rededicated himself to studies and eventually graduate. he literally went out in the woods to find a homeless student and brought him into his home. but around seven years ago this bright young man became addicted to painkillers. this is a story we hear all too often. he had an injury. he became addicted to painkillers and his family was

shocked at how many pills he was legally prescribed for his back pain. it wasn't long before he turned to something else, heroin. in fact, the nashua -- national data shows that four out of five people who turned to heroin actually started with misusing or overusing prescription drugs. thomas' life unfortunately took a turn for the worse, and he spent time in jail before eventually passing away from an overdose. when i spoke with kathy, she told me that more needs to be done to help others struggling with a substance use disorder. she wants to see more resources for early education. she wants to fight back against the stigma associated with addiction, and that is something as well that having this debate on the senate floor that we need to turn around this stigma. this is a public health crisis. this is a disease, and we need to get help for those struggling with addiction. but kathy's not alone.

a woman in goffstown wrote to me after losing her brother to a heroin overdose. from here forward we will never have another holiday where our family is complete. at thanksgiving when our close, loving family gathers, we will have an empty seat where he once sat,en unfilled stocking at christmas will remind us of the void we feel each day. come his 25th birthday this year, we will visit his grave site where he's buried instead of hugging him in our arms wishing him another year. a father told me i cannot describe the pain, feeling of helplessness and grave despair. my wife and i went through upon finding our son dead. this has been a tragedy we in the end were not able to fix and a war we were not able to win. our son is now part of the statistics. a woman in wakefield wrote that her niece's dreams were crushed when she became addicted to heroin. she wrote, her death has left the family heart broken and

we've chosen to tell everyone the truth in hopes that her death will not have been in vain. a mother in manchester, she said, i wake up every morning with the fear of finding my son dead. i'm crying out for help. a mother from greenville, new hampshire who spends her days helping people living with substance use disorders only to come home to see her own son struggling with using heroin. she told me, as i tried to comfort those who have been affected by this tragedy, i think my son will be next. in laconia, a man helps those struggling get treatment, but he feels helpless when he's faced with a five-month waiting period to get into a facility. he wrote, in five months these individuals will be dead. a parent from salem contacted me and told me her son is struggling with heroin addiction, and she needed help finding a treatment program for him since she couldn't afford to pay for treatment herself. like the mother of these three children who had to revive her

son from an overdose before the paramedics could arrive or like the griffin family. pam and doug griffin and shannon griffin from newton, new hampshire, who i've got to know well who lost their beautiful 20-year-old daughter courtney to fentanyl and heroin overdose. courtney's father doug griffin and his wife, pam, have made it their life mission to raise awareness about this terrible epidemic and help save lives and help others that are going through the same difficulty and tragedy. doug and so many other dedicated people in new hampshire are working tirelessly to turn the tide against this epidemic. earlier this year i met with families from new hampshire who actually traveled to washington to urge congress to take up and pass cara. and if we don't act, sadly, sadly what kind of message are we sending to these families that need our help and need us to act on this?

that's why we need cara and we need to ensure that this framework is passed. cara authorizes resources for treatment, prevention, recovery, and first responders. critical facets of a comprehensive approach. and cara is an authorization vehicle, but some made the argument around here why should we pass an authorization vehicle if the funding is not attached? under that reasoning, we wouldn't have passed the violence against women act. we wouldn't have passed the head start program. we wouldn't have passed a program of vaccines for children. we wouldn't have passed the second chance act. and i have so many more. and the reality is in the appropriations bill, there have been increases in funding for cara. and we're going to fight for even more increases in funding. in fact, at the end of the day the senate appropriations bills include a 46% increase in spending on opioid addiction programs since last year. so we can do more but if we don't pass cara, then we are

doing a great disservice to the american people. president obama's director of the office of national drug policy, michael botticelli told me at a hearing in new hampshire last year, certainly the cara act i think highlights many of the issues and fills really critical gaps not only in terms of funding but in terms of policy around this issue. mr. president, i hope this is not a partisan issue. unfortunately, we know republicans, democrats, independent, it doesn't matter what your political background but we have so many families in new hampshire and across this country that are struggling with addiction. and it's time for to us rise above the politics and pass this important legislation. and i want to thank again senators portman, i want to thank senator klobuchar, senator whitehouse for their passion and leadership they've shown on this legislation. there's an urgent and pressing need for this legislation, and i call on my colleagues at this point. i hope we can come together and

make sure that we duplicate what happened in the house of representatives where there was an overwhelming vote to pass this legislation. we get it to the president's desk and we make sure that legislation is funded. thank you, mr. president. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: before the senate from new hampshire leaves the floor, i just want to say again what i said previously. we wouldn't be where we are today on the comprehensive addiction and recovery act without the senator from new hampshire. she made an extraordinary contribution to this early on and played an important leadership role, and i want to thank on behalf of all members of the senate, republicans and democrats, i want to thank the senator from new hampshire for all she did to bring this forward. mr. president, i ask the chair lay before the senate the house message accompanying s. 2012. the presiding officer: the chair lays before the senate the

following message from the house of representatives. the clerk will report. the clerk: resolve that the house insist upon its amendment to the bill s. 2012 entitled an act to.for the mondayization of energy policy of the united states and for other purposes and conference with the senate on the two houses therein. mr. mcconnell: i move the senate disagree to the amendment of the house, agree to the request by the house for a conference, and the presiding officer appoint the following conferees. senator mikulski, barrasso, risch, cornyn, cantswell, wyden and sanders. and i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 223 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to disagree to the house amendment, agree to the request from the house for a conference, and the presiding

officer appoint the following conferees, murkowski, barrasso, risch, cornyn, cantswell, wyden and sanders with respect to s. 2012, an original bill to provide for the modernization of the energy policy of the united states and for other purposes. signed by 17 senators. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the mandatory quorum call be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: and i ask consent this cloture vote occur at 3:30 p.m. today with the time from 2:15 to 2:30 controlled by senator boxer or her designee. further, that the time from 2:30 until 3:00 be controlled by the majority and that the time from 3:00 to 3:30 equally divided between the two managers. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. a senator: mr. president, i come to the senate floor today to remember those who have been

affected by the tragic events in my state and across the country over the last week. ms. klobuchar: i am here today to remember the loss, to share in the grief and to stand with our community as we seek justice and healing and solutions together. last week was a tough, tough week in minnesota. there have been and there will be a lot of bleak moments when all anyone with do is to hug their family and their friends and ask why. how can this happen? how can we make sense of the senseless, and how can we go on as people and as a community that's hurting so badly -- badly? but amid all the horror, i also saw hope this weekend. sunday, i spoke at pilgrim baptist church in st. paul as well as greater friendship missionary baptist church in minneapolis. and when i looked around that room, i saw the horror, the frustration, the anger, but i

also saw the hope. and being there with the grieving members of our community gave me that hope because i knew that they supported one another, that their hearts must mend, that the neighborhoods must heal. i literally heard them talk about how that love that they had within the walls of that church must go beyond to the greater community. we've lost so many this week. what can you say to a mother whose precious baby boy is killed in a drive-by shooting while sitting in his father's car in north minneapolis? a 2-year-old. and what do you say to that same mother whose precious other child, the little boy's baby sister, was also injured by that gunfire? and what can you say to comfort elementary school children who suddenly lost that friendly face in the lunch room who always gave them a smile, a kind word, a healthy snack? there's no words that can take

away the pain of losing a beloved son, partner and friend. and philando castile was beloved, a gentle soul in his mother's words. he loved the kids at his school, and they loved mr. phil right back. he knew all the kids' names. there were more than 500 of them. he learned who had allergies and who might need a little extra help, and, yes, with a little playful nagging, he got them to eat their vegetables. in short, he cared about them and he let them know it. everyone knew it. and my state's outpouring of grief, especially from his school and the love and support in the wake of his loss means something, and the loss of that little 2-year-old is also a powerful reminder that being a friend is never a wasted effort, that even the smallest kindness shown to the smallest person makes this world better. and then there were the five officers lost in dallas.

officer brent thompson, he had just gotten married a few weeks ago. his bride was a fellow transit officer. officer michael smith, he served in the dallas police department for 26 years and volunteered as a mentor to at-risk kids. and officer patrick zamarripa, he served three tours of duty in iraq and the u.s. navy. the only thing he loved more than the texas rangers and the dallas cowboys was his 2-year-old daughter lincoln. and how about the 21 police officers in st. paul who were injured saturday night? there were so many peaceful protests and continue to be peaceful protests involving black lives matter and other groups in our state over philando castile's death. that is part of our democracy. that is how we make change. but what happened on saturday night on highway 94 was far from a peaceful process. we cannot achieve justice through injustice.

so where do we go from here? we know that nothing we can say will take away the hurt, but here's what we can do to narrow the gap between us. first, we must pursue justice. when i served for eight years as hennepin county attorney, which is the chief prosecutor of our county -- the largest county in our state, i always believed that my job and the principle we would use when we look at a case, our job, was to convict the guilty and protect the innocent. that is what justice calls us to do. that is why i have joined with the other members of the federal delegation, senator franken and congresswoman mccollum and congressman ellison in calling for a federal investigation into philando castile's death. we need to understand what happened and how we can be prevent this from happening again. philando, his family and all those children who loved him deserve nothing less.

second, we must fight for a criminal justice system that works for everyone. we all know people who have been caught up in a criminal justice system that can be harsh and unfair. it can do the right thing, and it can protect victims but it can also destroy individual people, it can pull families apart. that's why we must pass criminal justice reform. i've long supported important policy changes. my state was one of the first that videotaped interrogations, and that ended up being a good thing, not only for the defendants but actually for our police officers and those seeking convictions. i've supported reforms to the eyewitness process, i've supported body camera, diversity in hiring, law enforcement resources and training, very important as we go ahead and look at what we should be focused on in the next year and meaningful, meaningful work between law enforcement and our citizens. what else do we need? in my mind, we need commonsense

gun reform. i was proud to join my colleagues on the senate floor demanding changes to make our communities safer, and one of those changes in addition to the terror watch list bill was to make sure that we find some kind of consensus on improving background checks. the senate's failure to pass bipartisan background check legislation has been a big disappointment. here we had two a-rated n.r.a. senators that came together, senator toomey as well as senator manchin came up with a bill that would have closed some loopholes that would have made it safer. we know that states that have those background checks in place have reduced rates of suicides by guns and they also have reduced rates of domestic homicides. i still remember those sandy hook parents in my office advocating for that change in the bill. they knew that wouldn't have saved their babies, but they also knew it was one of the things that could best save lives going forward and could

best bring consensus in this chamber. from my time as county attorney, i remember those little children lost to violence. byron phillips, a little boy killed on his north minneapolis front porch. we had to put up billboards, the community did, saying you know who killed me, come forward. eventually it worked, and we put the gay in jail. taisha edwards, killed by a bullet while doing her homework at her kitchen table. her mom said if you get your homework done, you can go out with us to the mall. that's how she died. again, we put the guys that did it in jail, but that is not compensation for what happened to that family. americans from across the nation and across the political spectrum support commonsense proposals, they support commonsense background checks imposing the loophole check.

in honor of the lives we have lost in charleston, orlando, san bernadino, newtown, aurora, north minneapolis, cities across the nation, i will continue to stand with my colleagues until we take action on these commonsense measures. i'm reminded of president obama's beautiful words at a service remembering more americans lost to gun violence, this time in charleston, south carolina. he said this. for too long, we have been blind to the unique mayhem that gun violence inflicts upon this nation. sporadically, our eyes are open. when eight of our brothers and sisters are cut down in a church basement, 12 in a movie theater, 26 in an elementary school, but i hope, he said, we also see the 30 precious lives cut short by gun violence in this country every single day. the countless more whose lives

are forever changed, the survivors crippled, the traumatizeed every day as they walk to school, the entire communities whose grief overflows every time they have to watch what happened to them happen to some other place. my friends, we must stem the tide, but we also know that justice in our laws, which means the criminal justice reform that i noted earlier, which means commonsense gun reforms, which means making sure that these cases are investigated and the law is followed, no matter what the victim's race or ethnic background or how much money they have, that must happen to bring justice to these families, but the other part of this as i look at our neighborhoods that are affected by this every single day is economic justice. in the famous words of dr. martin luther king, we know

that it isn't enough to integrate lunch counters. what does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn't earn enough money to buy a hamburger and a cup of coffee? when we see lingering disparities and lingering is kind of a nerdy word for what we're talking about here. when we see these disparities of economics, when we see the health disparities, when we see far too many families working so hard but still struggling to get ahead and stubborn achievement gaps in our schools, we know there is so much more work to do. the solutions are a deep commitment to an economic future for the people that live in our cities, to make sure that they have access to the jobs that are starting to open up all over this country, that they are trained, that we look at what's happening in their schools and make sure that the training that they get match those jobs that are open. we have jobs all over our state

now in technology and science and in manufacturing and welding and is giving those kids that hope, not just in community colleges and regular colleges, not just in high school, but way in middle school, that they are going to be able to get one of these jobs. that's economic hope. it's about training our kids, keeping them in school, opening the doors of our businesses, big and small, to the people of the neighborhoods like the one that i was in yesterday in st. paul. finally, we must all work to protect the innocents among us. that's how i started, hardworking about how we must convict the guilty and protect the innocents, especially our children. 2-year-olds should not be shot and killed on the streets of north minneapolis. 4-year-olds should not witness a man die in the car seat right in front of them. nobody should have to explain to a classroom of children why their beloved friend, mr. phil, doesn't feed them lunch anymore.

we're better than this. i recently visited a mosque in minneapolis and heard the story of a muslim family who had gone out to eat at a restaurant. two parents, two kids. the parents, by the way, had been through 9/11, understood what had happened then, but had been able to live in our community where we have the largest somali population in the country without a lot of discrimination, without a lot of hateful words, even after 9/11, but not this time. they're in the restaurant with their little kids. a guy walks by, looks at them and out of the blue says you four go home. you go home to where you came from. the little girl looks up at her mom and says mom, i don't want to go home. you said we could eat dinner out tonight. i don't want to go home and eat dinner. those are the innocent words of a child.

and as sweet and funny as it is, you think about this. she knows no other home. she didn't even know what that guy was talking about because she knows no other home because minnesota is her home, because the united states of america is her home. america is better than angry words directed at strangers in a restaurant. america is better than babies being shot on the street in broad daylight. america is better than philando castile losing his life. and america is better than throwing concrete chunks at police officers in st. paul and five dallas cops being taken from their beat forever. so i'm here today to stand with the people who are not satisfied with how things are, the people who are ready to work to make things better, the people who are the helpers and the peacemakers. together, we can make this world a better place and more just.

thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: mr. president, the senate will soon vote on the conference report for the comprehensive addiction and recovery act. the importance of this bill cannot be overstated. people are dying. families are suffering. communities are being torn apart. we can help but we must do so now. i urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation which passed in the house last week with only five votes in opposition. the bill was intended to address the growing national crisis with regard to opioid abuse and addiction. the staggering statistics surrounding this issue are well known but are worth repeating. every day, approximately 7,000 people show up in an emergency room for problems associated

with opioid abuse. every 30 minutes, on average, someone in our country dies from conditions that are opioid related. my home state of utah has been particularly hard hit. in 20134, 2789 utahans died due to opioid abuse. that's more than half of all drug overdose-related deaths in the state. the cara conference report represents a thoughtful set of policies that tackle the problems experienced by the real people with families, children, and friends who are represented by these statistics. a letter signed by over 200 advocacy organizations supporting the conference report states that the report addresses the -- quote -- six pillars -- unquote -- of a comprehensive response to a drug addiction crisis. these pillars are prevention,

treatment, recovery, support, criminal justice reform, overdose reversal and law enforcement. i'm proud of the role that i played in not only supporting the cara effort in helping to shape the conference report. as the chairman of the finance committee, it was important to me that the report include key improvements for medicare in the fight against opioid abuse. i'm glad to say that we were successful in that regard. the legislation allows medicare part-d prescription drug plans to identify only one physician to prescribe and one pharmacy to fill all at-risk prescriptions. senator toomey has worked closer with senator brown has been an important leader. both have been excellent. he should be commended for his work that in the end will improve patient care, reduce abuse, and give at-risk

beneficiaries more opportunities to get the help that they need. additionally, the conference report contains significant provisions related to medication assisted treatment or m.a.t. which has long been a priority for me. i have a long history of working to improve access to drugs like buprenorphine as a prescription treatment for opioid use disorders, including heroin and prescription drug addiction. i was the author together with senators levin and biden of the data 2000 law that first made it possible for patients to be prescribed buprenorphine -- i don't know why i have trouble pronouncing that word. i've pronounced it a thousand times. i would also like to note, mr. president, that colleagues like senators markey and paul have also been very able champions in our recent efforts to expand access to this effective drug

treatment, including the introduction of legislation and our push to get the administration to use its regulatory authority to address this need. our efforts help to encourage the drafting of an h.h.s. rule that was finalized on july 6, the same day as the cara conference meeting. this rule raises an individual doctor's patient cap for buprenorphine from 100 patients to 275 patients. thanks to these combined administrative and legislative efforts, patients will have greater access to the medication assisted treatment they need in their recovery from substance abuse disorders. i am pleased as well to see provisions included in this legislation that encourage the national institutes of health to intensify fundamental translational and clinical research on the understanding of pain. the hope is that this kind of research will lead to

alternatives to opioids for effective pain treatment. these few lines within the legislation will have a significant influence on our understanding of how opioid abuse and chronic pain impact our families and communities. another set of highlights in the conference report are the provisions designed to protect infants born to mothers suffering from opioid addiction. reuters has reported that roughly every 19 minutes a child is born with an opioid dependency in the united states. that statistic is astoundin ast, mr. president. my home state is not spared from this heartbreaking problem. a recent utah health status update indicated that between 2009 and 2012, more than 100 babies each year tested positive

for illicit drugs at birth. once enacted cara will strengthen the existing plan for safe care of infants born and identified as affected by substance abuse or withdrawal symptoms as well as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. hopefully this will be an effective step to addressing what is just a tragic problem for too many american children. mr. president, as you can see, these are issues that have been in need of sensible solutions for some time. i wish to emphasize that the process that has brought us here to the precipice of passing cara is nearly as impressive as the conference report itself. senator portman from ohio, a long-time advocate on these issues has worked tirelessly alongside senator whitehouse from rhode island who for roughly three years shepherded this effort through the senate.

those two gentlemen deserve a lot of credit and support, and i'm glad the politics around this situation have been reduced so that they can get this bill through. senator ayotte who also deserves a tremendous amount of support and respect here has also been a champion for those afflicted by these problems and also senator ayotte deserves a lot of praise for all of her hard work. she understands this problem probably more than a lot of others and law enforcement has helped her to do so. senators portman, ayotte, they heard from the individual families that are afflicted with dealing with these issues. and they did an outstanding job. crafting policies to address these needs. all three of them deserve a great deal of respect and

support. under chairman grassley's leadership, cara was reported out of the senate judiciary committee. he did a great job in committee. i was on the committee. the original bill that came to the senate floor where senators were able to offer amendments. the senate passed the amended version by a vote of 94-1. a similar process played out in the house with the house patsing its opioid package by a vote of 400-5. i was pleased to serve on the conference committee that produced what should be the final draft of this important legislation. there were many similarities between the house and senate bills and we were able to resolve our few differences in a way that produced an improved cara bill. i want to commend representative fred upton, the chairman of the house energy and commerce committee, a great friend of mine who was instrumental in the house effort and who also very

ably chaired the house committee. fred upton is one of the great people in this body as are the others that i've mentioned. as i alluded to earlier, the house passed the conference report this past friday by a vote of 407-5. in other words, mr. president, over the past several months, there have been three major votes in the two congressional chambers, and the support has been overwhelming. counting every vote collectively, the bill's received over 900 yea votes in congress and less than a dozen nays. do you know how many of those votes in opposition have been cast by a democrat? one. a single house democrat voted against passage of the original house opioid package. every voting democrat in the senate voted in favor of our version of the bill. i commend them for that. and last week every house democrat that was present voted in favor of the conference report.

i commend them for that. i note these facts not to unduly inject partisan into this discussion but because we have heard rumblings that a number of senate democrats may want to hold up the process in order to extract more concessions. some have actually suggested that despite regular order and the overwhelmingly bipartisan support this legislation has enjoyed thus far, senate passage of the cara conference report is in doubt. now, i find this hard to believe and i hope it's not true. a few weeks ago the white house urged democrats in congress to -- quote -- slow down -- unquote -- the effort to finalize an opioid package. thankfully this was met appropriately with outrage. all of us, republicans and democrats, now have a tremendous opportunity to give vital assistance to many americans in need and to do so with hopefully an almost unanimous voice.

these days we don't often get to do that around here. we should not let partisan politics get in the way of this pressing issue. and like i said, more than 200 advocacy and stakeholder groups that have been involved throughout this process have urged passage of this conference report. individuals suffering from these afflictions as well as their families and friends are crying out for help. the howtion of representatives -- house of representatives heeded their call. the senate must do the same. i want to commend the majority leader for moving swiftly to bring this important legislation up for a vote. i think it is absolutely essential that we act before congress breaks for the recess. mr. president, i urge my colleagues to vote in favor of the cara conference report. let's send it to the president's desk this week and deliver results for those americans who are depending on us. with that i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut.

mufer coming down to the floor once again to express my -- mr. murphy: coming down to the floor once again to express my condolences to those lost in dallas. michael krol, patrick zamarripa, lorne ahrens, michael smith, brent thompson, the ripples of loss that never end in a community like dallas, a community like orlando. there's going to be a long period of healing. and our thought, and our prayers -- thoughts and our prayers and any help we can provide from those who represent connecticut and sandy hook specifically we extend to those in dallas. but in the wake of another tragedy, mr. president, i wanted to come down to the floor for a short period of time. i know my colleagues are waiting to speak, to talk about some of the very responsible -- very

irresponsible rhetoric that gets tossed around when it comes to this debate over the future of gun policy in this country. and i want to take five or ten minutes to talk about what is the biggest lie used by the gun lobby in this debate. and it's this. the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. this isn't true. it has never been true. it will never be true. it is quite simply an invention designed by the gun industry to sell more guns. to convince americans that laws and rules cannot protect them, that the only thing that can

keep them safe from being shot is to buy expensive weapons and expensive ammunition that pad the profits of the big gun companies. so it's time that we call this lie what it is. it's a marketing gimmick for gun companies, plain and simple. the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. now, let me be clear, mr. president. i don't quarrel with anyone who decides to buy a weapon for self-defense. that's your decision. that's your call. last week i met in my office with women from connecticut who came to my office to tell me about their belief that owning a weapon is instrumental to their ability to protect themselves. one woman in particular told me a story of repelling an attacker with the gun that was in her purse and her sincere belief that she would not be alive

today if it wasn't for that weapon that was on her person. so i support the second amendment, and i accept the supreme court has made it clear that that amendment protects the ability of anyone to buy a weapon for self-defense subject to certain common sense limitations. but if you're buying a weapon because you think that owning one makes you less likely to be killed by a gun, then you're wrong. and if you're standing in the way of policies that crack down on illegal or dangerous weapons on our street because you believe in some kind of gun control darwinism, a world in which the good guys with guns eventually shoot all the bad guys with guns, well then you have it backwards. because that's not how it works. you know how i know this? because study after study tells us that owning a gun makes you more likely to be killed by that gun than to use it to kill someone who threatens you.

and studies show that in countries and states with more guns, there are generally not less gun deaths but more gun deaths. like the study in the "new england journal of medicine" that showed that a gun in your house doesn't make you less likely to be killed. it isn't even risk neutral. having a gun in your home actually increases your chance of getting killed by a gun by anywhere from 40% to 170%. or how about the study in the american journal of epidemiology that showed that people living in a house with a gun are 90% more likely to die from a homicide than people who live in a house without a gun. what about the study from the violence policy center that instances of guns being used in self-defense are so rare that on average there are 44 criminal homicides with guns for every time a gun is used for protection in a justifiable homicide. or how about one more from the harvard injury control research center which showedt