was out. [laughter] and i decided i wanted to be a psychiatrist. >> the past 30 years the video library is your free resource for politics, congress in washington public affairs. whether it happened 30 years ago or 30 minutes ago, find it in c-span's video library@c-span .org, c-span where history unfolds daily. >> the senate voted to confirm the renomination of chairman pai to had the sec's commissioner board or for a five-year term. he was selected to chair the commission back in january following the election of donald trump. before the vote today several centimeters spoke about mr. pie on the senate floor. here's a look. >> adam president, i rise in opposition to the renominationpi

of mr. pie the federal vacations. as fcc commissioner and now as chairman has not been a vigorous watchdog for free speech. he has not put to the people's right to information first and in fact he has put corporate interest first.outright and he has opposed policies are right that insured under serveda communities have access to essential technology and i strongly oppose his renomination to the commission. let's begin with his responsibility to guard first amendment rights. president trump has relentlessly attacked nbc, cbs, abc, cnn, the new york times and the washington post. he calls these established and esteemed news outlets they can use and he even called them the enemy of the people. earlier this year in february

during the senate commerce hearing this was an oversight hearing and i asked chairman pai point blank whether he agreed with the president that these main stream news organizations were the enemy of the people and he refused to answer, refused to disagree patently outrageous and anti- america statement. his written answers were better but even then chairman pai did not demonstrate that he could stand up to power and defend first amendment rights. democrats on the commerce committee sent a letter asking again whether he believed the media for the enemy of the people and he qualified his answer in the negative by writing and i quote here "the president has made it clear that he was referring to take news as

the enemy of the people". i wish that was true but it is not. the president referred to well-respected mainstream media organizations. the fcc must on quickly stand up for the first amendment and the chairman needs to stronglye disavow the unfounded attack on the media by the president. the fcc took a huge step forward in favor of consumers in 2015 when it passed the open internet order and that order known as the net neutrality order was codified in the principle underlying net neutrality is simple and fair. it means that internet service providers must treat all internet traffic equally. they cannot block access to particular websites, apps or services. m they can't give fast lanes special treatment to websites or

apps that pay more or are favored by some company's executives. consumers benefit because internet service providers can's pick winners and losers on the online marketplace for services and ideas. those are the words of presidens obama. our democracy benefits because the internet lowers the barriern of communication but not if the massive companies that control infrastructure can erect new ones. as a commissioner, mr. pai voted it. and as trumps chairman he has now moved to dismantle it. the american people are outraged with the chairman's move to undo that neutrality and the question has received a record 22 million common in that regulatory proceeding., who is against that neutrality?

the mega providers like comcast, verizon, chairman eyes old employer who can benefit financially from giving advantage to selected websites? german spies record is fast and if there is a choice between consumers and big corporations, corporations went out.a let's look at what the chairman did recently to allow the biggest broadcast company in america to become even bigger. congress has put into law a limit on the market share that. ultrahigh frequency or you hf stations can own. that limit is 39%. the commission had considered that sinclair broadcast group, the largest broadcast company which holds 38% market share but sinclair wants to expand its reach and merge with another big company tribune media.

the $3.9 billion deal would give their control over 200 more local television stations. and expand its market to 72% of the television owning households. here is a chart that shows how expansive sinclair's proposed takeover would be. you can see here are the current markets and you can see down below the proportional footprint. traditionally, the fcc has interpreted its rules to prohibit sinclair from making that deal but chairman i authored an order in april reinterpreting the fcc policy to allow single player to grab almost three quarters of the market and sinclair happens to be well known for its friendly coverage of president trump. it even requires local

broadcasters outlets to regulatr from a former trump campaign in white house media circuit.ti it's executive have beens complementary of chairman pai personally. congress intended for there to be a multiplicity and diversity of voices and opinions on the airways. congress explicitly wants to prevent one media organization from having an outside influence over the nation. adam president, i have strong reservations about chairman pfizer leadership and values. free speech, media ownership rules and net neutrality are essential to a healthy democracy and the chairman is equivocating or moving backward on all fronts. these reasons i oppose the nomination. nevertheless, if he is confirmed i hope we can find common ground

in work together. one area where we can do that is rural and tribal broadband in the west. in my state of new mexico ruraly areas, tribes and do not have adequate access to the internet. approximately 63% of people living on tribal lands lack access to acceptable fixed broadband speeds. compared to only 17% of the us population as a whole. the gap is even higher for residents of tribal lands and in rural areas with approximately 85% of tribal people lacking access. we all know that in today's world broadband internet is essential to virtually allal successful economic and

commercial activity.y. it's essential to everyday life in america. as a member of the commerce committee i will continue to push the fcc to do all it can to close the digital divide. broadband expansion is not a question of political ideology, it is a question of political will. the government, federall government played a big role in expanding electricity and telephone service to every american. we, as a country, made major investments and we must do the same for rural broadband. senate democrats have made a number of concrete proposals recently and i hope they can work with our republican colleagues on these and i urgemm chairman i to take them seriously. esther president, members of the commission must be one 100% committed to principles of free speech and to protect consumers and to the underserved. mr. pai's record does not give me sufficient competence that he

shares that commitment and therefore i urge all of myl. colleagues to reject this nomination. adam president, i note the absence of a quorum. >> i come here today to talk about the fcc chairman pai before i begin i think all of us have an incredible study hard in our home and interstate and in the country and really, in the world. it's a horrifying event of las vegas begin to seek it. for me, i just saw an article from across the newsline in my home state of west virginia identifying the first identification of one of the victims and her name was. [inaudible] and she's from virginia. her husband tony they were at

the concert together and they been married 32 years, the school sweethearts and were there vacationing and at the concert. tony wrote on his facebook page that his wife died in his arms. so, a mother of two soon to be a grandmother of five was lost to this horrible tragedy. my heart for them and for everyone and i really don't have the words to say how to convert or how to explain or how to understand except that i feelor very deeply sad and sorry and prayerful for them in their families. today i wanted to talk about the nomination and reappointment of german ties of the federal communications commission. he has been an important partner in my quest to bring rural america and much of my state

online. i was lucky to meet german fight several years ago and without question he has been a champion so and without question high-speed internet access has allowed him to connect with one another on a scale we never could have imagined a decade ago. no other technology has been so critical to our critical eyes. it is our backbone for competition and our economic growth starting a business digital learning and telemedicine and broadband access is critical to the strength of our economy. unfortunately for all thecan potential opportunities that broadband can offer not having access to this important service can create insurmountable barriers, better connecting states like mine like west virginia through improved broadband has become one of my top priorities. without this our rural areas really risk being left behind. the digital divide exists in this country and rural americans are the ones who were on the

wrong side of the divide. small committees and businesses across west virginia andnf elsewhere lack the fundamental infrastructure and no one understands these issues more than mr. pai.ed chairman pai grew up in rural kansas and told me sometimes when he goes to go home to visit his parents he cannot get connected in his own town. he knows the challenges facing rural needs. i had the pleasure of posting chairman pai and his staff multiple times in west virginia. most recently, chairman pai came to ward and bill, west virginia where we have good connectivity and where we've been able to create new businesses and opportunities for small towns like woodinville.eed we traveled 20 or 30 miles to c new hampshire county where were getting high-speed internet has been far more challenging. there chairman i met a man in

kirby west virginia was a small chocolate business. he is having trouble following up with orders and attracting new customers because he can't get consistent broadband access. last august i held a roundtable discussion with chairman pai in fayette county focusing on the digital divide and the impact on tourism. we visited adventures on the gorge and i even convinced him to join me on the bridge walk across the beautiful new river. the new river gorge. this outdoor recreation destination is one of west virginia's most beautiful and f premier tourist destinations but small businesses there are hampered by the lack of connectivity. we heard from her sample business owners who can't grow their business because of poor internet connectivity. it's hard to attract the workforce to live and visit in rural parts of our state. local restaurant owner shared their difficulty in notifying

customers of available tables to their online system. the lost business because of that. during each of the chairman's visit we discovered possible solutions that promote greater access petition. chairman pai is a great listener. he listens to what these issues are and those are reducing barriers to investment, streamlining the regulatoryre environment and encouraging public and private partnership, ensuring accountability on behalf of the taxpayer and following his tour across the country where he stopped in west virginia chairman pai has proposed a digital empowerment agenda to write down the alley of the issues that we just talked about. to grant americans living in communities of all sizes from urban to small rural towns withi these online opportunities. german ties agenda highlighted a variety of specific measures that the fcc, congress and state and local governments would make

some fight broadband supplements. broadband access would be the result of the partnerships this between private, local, state and federal organizations. we need to have this pr collaboration to eliminate duplicative and outdated programs so that states like mine can efficiently delivernt broadband to rural communities sufficiently and, i would say, cost-effectively. by listening to communities like ours and remember i said chairman pai is a great listener which he is and the chairman has built a plan for achievinge widespread broadband access that meets the unique demands of our rural committees. the ftc plays an imperative role on these issues. in large and small estates particular rural states like mine in the 21st century economy robust telecommunication networks artificially importantt for today's users as a foundation of innovation. under leadership at the fcc he

has already taken steps toward modernizing the commission's role in promoting digital empowerment. since the beginning of his tenure the commission has hit the ground running and acting ar broad strategic vision to close the digital divide. , to modernize their rules, promote innovation, protect consumer and public safety and improve the commission's daily operations. under his leadership, under chairman price leadership position has made significant investments to deliver broadband service to the underserved and unserved areas of the country. i am confident that rural america will see more progress with his continued leadership and i am very proud today tot support his nomination and renomination to the fcc as he ascends and retakes the chairmanship of a very important part of our vacation network. with that, i would yield back

and i noticed the absence of world. >> thoughts and prayers are good but they are simply not enough. thoughts and prayers are not enough when more moms and dads will bury their children this week and thoughts and prayers are not enough with sons and daughters will be forced to grow up without their parents. attacks like we have seen today have happens all too often in america. enough is enough. we have to have a conversation about how to stop gun violencee in america and we need to have that conversation right now. now, madame president, i want to take time to discuss the vote we will be taking shortly on the nomination of chairman pai to serve as the chair of the federal relations commission or the fcc. one thing it showed us the burdens of connection and every

day moms and dads use their phones to check on their kids, students use online to use their research project. it's a fact that media and telecommunications services play a vital role in helping american households connect with their loved ones, communities and the world around them. the fcc make sure that those services are available and accessible to all americans whether they live in a rural community or in a large city. sure that at least that is what the fcc is supposed to do. there is a lot of power fees that want to change that picture.

companies that want to change the rules so they can line the pockets of their corporate executives and their wealthy investors. those powerful companies have launched an all out assault on every branch of our government with only one goal, to make sure the government works for them and for their buddies. it leaves everyone else in the dirt they don't much care. is powerful companies know it is good to have friends on the inside and they have invested a lot of money in making friends. giant corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money to elect politicians who will promote their views and flooded congress with lobbyists who wils work around the clock to destroy laws and rules of the industry doesn't like and to reshape those laws to suit corporate interests. electing politicians and flooding congress with lobbyists just isn't enough. the republican buddies in congress only do so much.'t powerful corporations need weak agencies that won't hold them accountable so they work to fill those agencies with their alli

allies, friends who can undo the rules that giant operations don't like. friends who want to go after those companies when they throw the rules out the window to make an extra buck. the fcc is one of the agencies that has been on their hit list for a long time and now they see their opportunity to execute corporate takeovers of the fcc and they started at the top with mr. pai, picture the fcc. since his appointment of as chair he has worked at breakneck speed to transform the fcc from an agency that works in the public interest to a big business support group. chairman pai started with net neutrality protections, rules that help keep the internet free and open by presenting giant broadband is from discriminating against certain internet users and turning the internet into

another service ticket that caters to those pay top dollar. like his big broadband buddies chairman pai opposes net neutrality rules. once present was elected chairman pai declared the days of net neutrality protections were numbered and now he is working hard to reverse those roles.in chairman pai has more on his agenda. he is working to weaken thebi fcc's lifeline program that helps low income households across the country pay for phone and broadband services. chairman pai has also halted the sec's efforts to demand accountability from private prison phone companies that charge sky high rates to prisoners and their loved ones. chairman pie thanks it is just fine for private companies to make it harder for prisoners to stay connected to their families and their communities by charging exorbitant phone fees. chairman pai defense killing these public-sector roles by

pealing a version of the same old tired frame that we have heard over and over from industry. m government should stay out of the way and let big corporations do as they please because when big corporations make lots of profit that benefits everyone. yeah right. that worn-out theory has been disproven time and time again. we know that when government is asleep at the wheel and big companies get to make the rules those giant companies make outov like bandits while everyone elsf gets stuck with the bill. that is not all. when government doesn't do its job and when it fails to protect the public interest the big guys can grow even larger and more powerful and can translate greater economic power into greater political power and thae is where it gets scary. look at sinclair broadcast gro group. the flare is the longest television station owner in

america and it is made a name for itself by aggressively promoting ultra conservative views. it is infamous for forcing its stations to regularly run right wing segment and it melds its radical ideology with a take no prisoners profit making mission finding more and more creative ways to reduce news coverage ang instead promote its sponsoredore product. in being the biggest isn't enough for sinclair. it wants to become even more powerful so it is put in a bid to purchase tribune broadcasting, another large television owner. if government regulators don't stop the merger sinclair willl have access to over 70% of american households. if the alarm bells have not already gone off this is where they should start ringing like crazy. during the presidential campaign claire was a huge supporter of

then candidate trump and uses its power in local television markets to spread slanted approach news stories. jared kushner, president trumped son-in-law even bragged about reaching a deal with sinclair to get more news media coverage of trump. the day before trumps inauguration sinclair's chairman met with chairman pie who waswh then in fcc commissioner but who is expected to be promoted to chairman. he met with him to change and urge him to change the rules so sinclair can grow even more powerful. when president trump nominated chairman pai to chair the fcc sinclair got exactly what it wanted. mr. pai emilio got to work changing the rules so it would be easier for sinclair to acquire tribute.er local media is sacred to many

americans. it is where we catch up on what is happening in our communities from people who know and care about our committees. a merger between sinclair and tribune would allow sinclair to change that dynamic. with more local programming coming from a centralized source there would be less information and less diversity in local reporting. that kind of concentrated power is bad for condition and is worse for democracy. whether the sinclair agenda was on the political or the political left no single centralized corporation should control access to local programming for so many c households.s we need a strong chair at the fcc, a chair that understands the government's role is to work for american families and to hold giant corporationsking for accountable.

we do not need a chair at the fcc who was working for the most powerful communications in this country and that is why i will vote no on the nomination of german five to be chairman of the fcc. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. >> as you heard a few minutes ago several senators also addressed the mass shooting in las vegas on the senate floor. next, we will show you more ofy. those remarks but first, the words of senate chaplain very black who addressed the shooting in the indication. >> let us pray. eternal lord god, we lift our hearts to you. lord, please shower your mercy on our nation as we seek to deal with the las vegas mass shooti

shooting. please, show mercy to the victims and their families board, in spite of this horrific act give us faith to believe that evil will not ultimately prevail in our world. made this tragedy motivate us to plant and water seeds of peace as we cultivate a greater respect for the laws of seedtime and harvest. cut in pieces the cores of wickedness that seek to find us. today guide our senators and use them as ambassadors of reconciliation in our nation and

world. eternal god, though we walk in the midst of trouble stretch forth your hand and revive us with your might, we pray, in your merciful name, amen.observe >> i ask unanimous consent that the senate now observed a moment of silence for the victims of the las vegas attack. >> without objection. it's an order. the senate will now observed a moment of silence for the victims of the attack in las vegas.

>> the majority leader. >> mr. president. >> majority leader. >> we woke up to this morning with news that was heartbreaking. what happened in las vegas was shocking, tragic and for those affected by their families it is devastating. it is hard to even imagine their

pain. i hope they will know that we are praying for them now. i hope they will find strength in the love and kindness around them in these hours of such darkness. under and in pain. i hope they will see that our country is standing by their side today. many americans are still in shock. others have begun to wonder why someone would do something this terrible. investigators will continue their dedicated work in search of answers. what is clear now is that this is a moment for national morning as just a moment ago president trump led the company in observing a moment of silence. as noted this morning, we are all grateful for the courageous efforts of the first responders. they always put their lives on the line to save others and they

do so with selflessness that reminds us of the inherent courage and mercy that remains possible with in each of us. light amidst the dark, times of terrible grief, same is true of the national spirit of compassion that shines through our country in the moments whenp it is needed most. whether it is lining up to donate blood or signing up to volunteer their time, our fellow americans are always there to offer what they can when others are in need. we think these americans and law enforcement in the first responders before everything t they have done. we thank them for their effortso that continue. we send our condolences to everyone that affected by this terrible tragedy. >> for my planned remarks on the

federal vacations commission i want to say a few words about the awful event in las vegas. our hearts are with the families affected by the tragedy and with the city of las vegas and we do send them our best wishes and pe prayers. but we can do more than send our thoughts and prayers to the grieving. we can do more than think the first responders. we can do more then lower the flag at half mast. we can take a stand against gun violence, and bypassing common sense gun safety laws. otherwise, this just becomes a ritual of mass murder, mourning, moving on. let's stop this awful ritual. let's stop the violence. let's do something about it.t

mr. president. >> we mourn the lives of more than 50 life lost in las vegas.k the lives of our fellow americans were taken in a barbaric manner that defies all justification, excuse or even explanation. become these events have become almost commonplace in modern society and it makes him no less shocking or morally reprehensible. the date and location, country musical possible on a sunday afternoon make the act seem doubly cool. thousands of innocent spectators were there from around the country enjoying themselves wito security being the furthest thing from their minds until the shots rang out. as news reports have now indicated, the event is one of

the deadliest mast shooting in us history. it and other forms of violence continue to tear apart the fabric of our country and the scars left among the victimsai families and loved ones will be painful and permanent. still my prayers go out to all of those in nevada that have not s slept since yesterday and who are still grappling with the aftermath of the shooting. the families attending the love ones in hospitals, as well as the first responders and law enforcement officers who iran towards, not away from, the gunfire and are now nursing various wounds. here in washington we will continue to monitor the situation and will continue to keep the fallen in our prayers in the days ahead. madam president, today is a day of mourning for las vegas and america. my heart goes out to all those touched by the ruthless and cowardly shooting last night. l one of the victims was lisa.

a secretary at the high school in new mexico. the students knew her well as ms. lisa and she was adored by everyone at the school. her loss will be deeply felt. i send my condolences and prayers to her family as well as her school family and to everyone in mexico. i also want to recognize the true bravery of first responders, the police, the firefighters, the emts, some of whom risked their own lives to save others. there are heroes in america and we saw them in action last evening. at present, las vegas, nevada and new mexico cheryl long kinship. nevada is a sister western state and many new mexicans have a family in las vegas and new mexicans are reeling because of this tragedy.

as westerners and as americans we must all come together to support the victims, think our first responders and focus resources on policy on preventing future massacres.ive >> data present, i come to the floor to speak about the vote that we will have at 5:30 but i once again one to give my condolences to those who have been impacted by the horrific shooting in las vegas and to the families and to the victims of this horrible incident. want them to know our thoughts and prayers are with them as the whole nation turns to the situation. my thoughts and prayers also go out to at least one washington family that i know who has been impacted and was at the center. you may find out that there are others but we are thinking and

praying deeply for their recovery and i hope that everyone will take the time to say some thoughts and prayers for those people who have been impacted by this incident madam president, i also want to speak in opposition to the nomination of mr. pai to a second term of the chairman of the fcc. the reason why we are out here speaking about the spoked that will happen in a short period of time is because we are concerned about the future of innovation, the future of where consumers claim the decision-making and how they access content and the future of our economy. what i am worried about is that in the short period of time that chairman pai has been at the fcc, instead of the policies that would have been enabling consumers to take actions that i think would have consumers paying more for less access that

media concentration would be more enabled and that plans to protect net neutrality in an open internet will be reversed. this in and of itself is the biggest issue. that is to say the state of exi washington and the internet and innovation that exists there to be greatly impacted by the rolling back of protections that we have now that says you cannot artificially throttle or slow down internet activity and hold the consumer hostage to paying more. the mission of the fcc is to about the use of a deployment of medications that are in the public interest and it is the job of the chairman to make sure that that mission is carried out. on doing the existing net

neutrality laws that are on the books, i think, is not in the public interest in it will promote the access that we need. dismantling this rule whichsu would preserve the diversity of content, i think are things that will negatively impact our marketplace for a long time. when you think about some of the issues that we have already seen and what we can see in the future is it more consumers are led to having to pay a toll. it's almost like what we see if you want to get in the fast lane and you want to have this rapid access will have to pay more. today consumers are using mobile apps to preorder coffee, get access to healthcare information, to work on making sure that we protect from whatci is a tax on now everything from our electricity grids to people's homes security systems and protecting people from cyber security and i'm very worried that if the internet arteries are slowed down or clogged that critical information could

arrive too late to help protect consumers. if we are listing in a world the where the advent of more smart forms and people sharing information we want to make sure that they, too, can get access to information and are not slow down or throttled in any way. when you think about this in the app economy that exists in washington state there are the fastest business growing and it is part of a large organization of today at 1.7 million american jobs are because of these apps in nearly 92000 of them are inan the state of washington. they have voted an annual rate of 30% and the average growth rate of other jobs is 1.6%. why would you nominate someone who's already pledged to roll back rules of an open internet that basically will create throttling and slowing down of

content that will hurt the applications of these businesses. nobody wants to develop a new application that connects consumers whether it is healthcare or protecting people in cyber or education or for that matter even the united states senate. will they have to pay a pastor told to get access to information? dismantling net neutrality puts our economy in jeopardy. it causes the issues that created an open internet to be called into question. while i know that some would saw it is necessary for investment, i would say that we have seen in the last several years the rule of an open internet which has been in place much investment in the infrastructure that is needed to carry on. i do not agree with my colleagues think that this is a necessary way to grow investment. as a necessary thing that large cable companies would like to

tell you that they need so that they can continue, as i said, build fast and slow lanes and charge consumers more that they want access to those fast lanes. i encourage my colleagues to vote no on mr. pai's second term as fcc commissioner and get focused on making sure that we protect an open internet. i think the president any of the four. >> senator from massachusetts. >> i would like to start my remarks with might deepest condolences to the people of las vegas into the families and loved ones of the victims of this, the worst mass shooting in our nations history. the nation's heartbreaks at innocent concertgoers had to experience such violence. may you find the strength and love to overcome your grief and heal and to move forward. we owe our gratitude to the brave first responders for their efforts last night and to the

medical professionals who are working tirelessly to heal wounds and stabilize. enough is enough. americans are tired of living in fear that their community will be the next new found aurora, orlando or las vegas. we must act so that we do not become numb to this preventable carnage and this epidemic of gun violence in our country it is not preordained but it is preventable. we can begin by banning these military style assault weapons like the ar 15 which were the guns of choice for those who seek to inflict mass casualties on the billions. these weapons the belong in combat, not in our communities. unfortunately the gun lobby prevailed on congress to let the assault weapons dan expire in 2004 but we needed now more than ever. we must also pass legislation to ensure that this all purchases

including a background check. 92% of americans support expanded background checks. 92% of americans support expanded background checks. no one should be able to purchase a gun through facebook or instagram without a background check. instagram should not be instant gun which it is in america today. let's also close the glenn show loopholes that allow anyone to go into one of these kmart's full of killing machines and by a gun without a background check.k. let's close the loopholes that allow domestic abusers to buy guns. let's repeal the protection ofae lawful, commerce and take away the gun manufacturers immunity from civil liability. clcaa should stand forreating protecting lives creating arms

accountability. must also recognize that this epidemic of gun violence is a public health emergency and it must treat it that way. we must fully fund this critical research agenda at the centers for disease control and give the cdc the resources that it needs. you will hear a lot of people say that now is not the time to politicize this tragedy and that talking about legislation is insensitive and wrong. the only thing the nra wants more than to sell lots of gun silencers is to put a silencer on the debate about gun safety legislation. the only thing the nra wants more than allowing nationwide concealed carry laws is the concealed the overwhelming support for background checks. the only thing the nra wants more than to stifle smart gun technology is to stifle debate on gun violence protection.

to anyone who says this debate now is too soon, it's already os too late or at least 58 people in las vegas and hundreds of others who were wounded. we should not wait another day, we need to pass common sense gun safety legislation so that we can the moment of silence for the nra's stranglehold one american politics. we must make nra stand for not relevant anymore in american politics. that should be our agenda here on the floor of the united states senate. what is wrong is leaving americans in our communities unprotected yet again from gun violence. what is wrong is not having a debate and allowing the nra to block sensible gun safety legislation. p we must act so that we do not become numb to the preventable carnage of the people of las

vegas and the people of new time in san bernardino and every community in our country that should be our responsibility now in this country. i would also like to turn my attention to the confirmation of fcc chairman mr. pai. the subject of today's quote out here on the senate floor. last week i took to the floor ti explain how in his short tenure as chairman of the federal trade commission's mr. pai has stood up for big corporations and ignored american consumers. under his leadership the sec now stands for forgetting consumers in condition. here are the five reasons i give. h number one, a net neutrality i explained how he wants to take a weed wacker, his words, to net neutrality allowing broadband providers to serve as internet gatekeepers and pick online winners and losers. number two, a privacy.

chairman pai has actively supported efforts to allow broadband providers to sell consumers sensitive information without their consent and eliminating requirements for those companies to put into place data security protections despite the obvious need to protect personal information. three, on mega mergers mr. pai has paved the way for massive mergers which will squeeze outic independent programmers and it needed to hire consumers.tion for, the education rate, chairman pai has refused to commit to protecting the e rate' the most successful educational technology program in our country's history which linked up schools and libraries to the internet. and five, the lifeline program.c mr. pai has undercut the lifelong program which provides

access to voice and internet service for millions of low income americans. case against german faisal nomination is clear. i want to spend a few more minutes today on the particularly critical issue of net neutrality and the chief governing principle of the internet.t that neutrality ensures that all internet traffic is treated equal requiring that internet service providers like at&t, charter, verizon and guest do not block, slow down, censor or prioritize internet traffic. today essentially every companyl is an internet. every company has to deal with the digital revolution to be relevant in the 21st century. in 2016 almost half of the venture capital funds invested in this country went towards internet specific and software companies. that is $25 billion worth of investment half of all venture

capital in this country. that is good. bro and, to meet america's insatiable demand for broadband internet, the us broadband companies, telecommunications industry, the big companies invested more than $87 billion in capital expenditures in 2015. that's the highest rate of the annual investment in the last ten years. that is good. what hit the sweet spot investment in broadband, wireless technology is very hi high, job creation is very high, venture capital investment is the online status is very high and with net neutrality rules in place the best ideas are not nearly the best funded ideas can thrive in the 21st century. now, german five says that he "likes" net neutrality but then he says he wants to take an ax to the very order that

established today's net neutrality rules. that is like saying you value democracy but don't really like the constitution. it makes no sense. that neutrality is the organizing was both of the internet. german, the ifp is the internet service provider companies keepw walking around whispering how title to is some terrible word and some terrible things but let's understand how we landed here. what is title to? it gets all very mysterious until you put it into very simple language. in 2010 the federal communications commission attempted to put net neutrality rules in place without reclassifying broadband under title ii of the communication act. the district of columbia circuit court proceeded to invalidateto those rules and said to the

federal communications commission here is how you can do it and it will not be struck down. here is a smart way for you to put net neutrality on the books that makes it legal so the federal communications commission incorrectly reading the court decision and in fact in 2015 adopted the open internet order which reclassifies broadband as a telecommunications service under title ii. under this ability to regulate and they did it in the circuit court of appeals upheld the rules in a 2016 decision. it is instructed by the court how to do it, follow the instructions, implements, done. it is now based into the personality of the internet to have open pictures that are there for anyone to get on, not to be disseminated against.

that is with the internet should be like in the 21st century. title ii is appropriate because it was congress intent to preserve the fcc's authority to forestall threat to competition and innovation in healthe medication services even as those technologies use to offer those services evolve over time. we are not locked in one period of technology, as it evolves, so, too, does it revolution occurred in terms of what openness means and what an ability for everyone to be able to use the internet without being discriminated against. broadband has become the single most important telecommunication services americans used to transmit medication to eachnsums other and innovators, businessen and consumers overwhelmingly view broadband as a telecommunications service. this is common sense to

americans around the country. with the only exception being big telecommunications lobbyists and lawyers who work too close its infinite who want to stop this incredible, incredible entrepreneurial democracy and enhancing set of rules that exist to ensure that this communication mechanism is not controlled by just a small number of companies. now, mr. pai has said that he likes net neutrality but that he thanks it should be voluntaryor but voluntary regulations willd work. we know that the broadband industry, your cable is, yourve. telecommunications providero cannot regulate themselves. they sell and struggle to show up to show up on time to

install. [inaudible] of course not. americans have made their voices heard about net neutrality. more than 22 million americans have written to the federal communications commission in the past several months sending a clear message of support for net neutrality. hear that again. 22 million americans sends a t message to the federal communications commission that they do not want to see a change in the net neutrality rules for our country. yes, mr. pai will not listen. his plan will allow broadband stifle entrepreneurial ship and his plan will allow big braunor

barons to reduce choice and then make consumers pay more. we cannot allow this to happen. that is why this vote we are about to take is so important. and that is why i urge my colleagues to stand up for consumers and to vote no on mr. pai's nomination to be the b chairman of the federal communications commission. >> mr. president, i think all of us felt a familiar knot in her stomach when he received news of what may be the deadliest mass shooting in american history. the numbers are hard to comprehend though they certainly aren't final. fifty-eight people are dead and perhaps over 500 have been

wounded, either by the gunshots themselves or by the pandemonium that ensued once the thousands of concertgoers in downtown las vegas figured out that they were being fired upon from above. there is nothing wrong with sending every thought and prayer and every bit of your heart to las vegas to all of the family members that lost loved ones and to those recovering, from the first responders at large. it does help. i lived through one of these as a witness in sandy hook. many of those parents are still my friends. ut pre

with a two address what i would consider to be a lingering paradox that exists in this country. in almost every magical invention in this world today, whether it be okay and

economies, participatory democracies, communication through the internet arely essentially modern americanere inventions. the reason that we were able to cab catapult to the point of global preeminence is because we solve big problems and we solve them beforresolvethem before ane we took the solutions and exported them to the rest of tha world. that is a definitional characteristic of this country, just working harder than anybody else to solve the problems in giving the solution to others so they can use it for themselves. the paradox lies here. we solved a lot of problems how to order the economy and talk to each other and save people fromh disease. in fact, maybe the longest

standing human concern is a very simple one. concern for your physical safety. i can chart a civilization based upon the society's ability to more consistently protect your physical body. that is in fact one of the original reasons why humans found each other to try to protect ourselves from physical harm that comes from the outside. and the paradox lies in that when it comes to this country'sm ability to protect citizens from harm we are not a leader, we are an outlier compared to other industrialized first world nations. to meet a violent death

especially by the hands of a firearm in this country then you are in the other first worldand' countries. it's time to explore why the why paradox exists and why we are such a leader. why have we been such a leader over the course of the years on so many concerns and yet when it comes to protecting ourselves and our fellow citizens from ci physical violence. the scope is enormous when you look at the countries there are just a handful that have a high air rate of violence than then united states. i've been down on the floor with others talking about the numbers over and over again, butmately approximately 80 people will lose their lives by gunfire, two

thirds by suicide still, about 30 people every day are killed with a gun that is used byhose someone else and there is no soo other country into the rate of gun violence. the mass shootings that get the most attention are epidemic. we've become normalized and regularized to 50 or 40 or 30 people losing their lives bute this happens nowhere else but the united states. it is an american problem. and it's not just las vegas and orlando and sandy hook.he we've had more shootings this year than the number of days in the year. for all of the people, four or more people shot in your town or

neighborhood and that would be a cataclysm it happened on average because we've become so regularized to it. where the scale is truly epic that we focus on it as a nation. when the victims of this kind of epidemic violence seen nothing but silence the hurt is deep, the scars are wide in newtown but they are made wider by the fact that this body in four and a half years has done absolutely nothing.

there is an unintentional endorsements that gets sent to these mass murders went after slaughter after slaughter, congress does nothing if the greatest deliberative body in the world doesn't act in unison to condemn them through policy change. it starts to feel and look likee complicity. there's going to be a wave of unimaginable pain that can sweep across las vegas and the country as we learn about who these and victims were in favor of overtime be just as angry and furious as those parents in sandy hook are today and we do nothing to try to reduce the likelihood of the shootings.

i read a little passage of the bible of my 5-year-old son every night but i'm the first thing furthest from a theologian. but i know that sprinkled throughout the bible are the references to the fact that prayer has to be matched witho action, with words. m james says show me your faith apart from and i will show you my faith by my works. thoughts and prayers need to be matched by action. that is our job. our job is not just to send good thoughts. the reason why we exist is to nn act, to change the law of the nation to address challenges that the constituencies and since the beginning of time the most important challenges that our constituents have faced the human race have faced is that of physical security. qui

let me run down very quickly the arguments are going to be usedon for the next few days but continued to do nothing. i reject that argument. mass policy change the day after a mass shooting in this country, then you are never talking about policy change because a mass

shooting happened on average every day. unfortunately, the ones in which eight people were shot were 12 people are shot do not get at national attention. whether we like it or not, the country's attention is positioned on how we protect our country from harm. there isn't a 48 hour waiting period for the police ca beforey to investigate who did it and hold them accountable so how can we get immediately to the question of how they are happening and try to solve it.

there are evil people in the world who are regularly doing very bad things, and there is no way that a set of laws can stop people from doing harm to the. to regulate the effect of evil one citizens. the laws against murder and arson, rape and assault are attempts to make sure the people are protected from evil, from data people. so why can't we have a conversation to make sure the people that were contemplatingo mass violence at the very leastt do the least possible violence. it is not incidental to.

these mass shootings in which 50 or 60 or 40 people are dying largely have happened after the aspiration of the assault weapons ban. now it is much easier to get your hands on a gun and much more accurate and lethal. there's large numbers of people buying as happened last night is much greater.n a thidespite all of what then does something different to a human body. then a pistol. that's why 20 kids were shot and not a single one of them survived in city seemed he. look at connecticut that requires universal background check and requires you to get a permit before you can carry and when we passed tough laws even

when you account for other factors that could have caused the production under the study. homicides are much lower by a degree of 40% so you can't regulate away evil in total, you can't do more to protect people especially from this massive scope of violence. people will say this guy was mentally ill and you can't do anything about the fact that people are mentally ill with gun laws. that's true, and we should fix the system of the broken mental-health treatment because it is broken but we should also recognize that this problem of e

mass execution is a uniquely american problem despite the fact there is no evidence thatta we have a higher rate of mental illness than any other country. there are plenty of very mentally ill people. in other countries. but in those countries, their mental illness is not the straight line to a gun crime in large because it makes it harder to get your hands on a gun and much harder to get your hands on a weapon that does the kind of mass violence we saw last night. last, one of the favorite arguments is that this is too hot of an issue for the united states senate or a political body to handle. it's controversial. it is controversial but it's not as controversial as people may think. in fact the issue of background checks which may not have been

dispositive on what happenethisd in las vegas but might have produced the likelihood that ed other people over the course of sunday. background checks are supported by 80% of americans. most suggest a majority supports the other sweep of changes that i talked about as well. in fact many of the first steps we would take as a body saying people in th on the terrorist wh list can't buy guns, tightening up the wall to make sure peoplet that are mentally ill can't buy guns. those are supported by 80 to 90% of the constituents no matter if you are in the bluest state or the register state of. why don't we start by finding that commothe common ground andn after that we can find other. common ground. this is going to keep happeningk

over and over again. and i know the answer can't be that we are powerless as a body to do something about it. i just personally can't think that answer back to the families of sandy hook for a year and i have a feeling i don't want to speak for them, but i have a feeling that a delegation from nevada is going to have a hard time bringing that answer backis to the victims of las vegas as well.a this is a growing fraternity. a tragic and awful fraternity. members of congress thator represent states that have goneo through these executions. i've had too many phone callsook from senators and representatives that were already part of the club and i got to make that call this

whatever advice i could on how to help a community but this silence is becoming unintentional endorsement, and i hope in the coming days we can come together. republicans and democrats to start talking about at the least some baby steps, to show the people of orlando, to show my constituents and my friends in the sandy hook that silence is no longer an option. let me thank my colleague from connecticut. he sponsored a filibuster or long speech last year i believey it was kerry i participated in it as did many members of the caucus. both he and senator blumenthal bring a perspective to this

issuthe issueof gun violence ree state of connecticut and many oa the families that lost first-graders that were shot down most of them, in their classrooms. i heard that story and how those children died and their teachers died, and i thought to myself this must be the moment that will motivate america to finally do something if innocent first grade children can be shot down in their classrooms in this w nation, that answer is the spoken a lot about the issue, but we have done little or nothing to change the circumstances that led to their death. if that were the only case, it would be bad enough. but the orlando nightclub i believe 49 were killed there. some crazed person went there and kill innocent people, gathered at that nightclub.

and as senator murphy said, when you go through the litany it is an endless litany of the victims of gun violence and now last night in las vegas nevada, the worst in the united states of america, the worst estimates now i saw when i came to the floor 58 died and over 500 injured. i don't know what the ultimate numbers will be that those numbers in and of themselves were incredible. last night we witnessed what was the worst mass shooting to date in the nation. this gunman supposedly at 10 p.m. began firing from the

room of a 32nd floor of a hoteld he was holed up in his hotel room with ten guns and obviously fired hundreds of rounds of ammunition. as we mentioned, 58 people have been reported to have died and over 515 injured. those are staggering and horrifying numbers. there are literally hundreds of families tonight and communities who have been changed forever by this crime. our prayers obviously go out to them in this moment of loss and uncertainty. during and after the shooting as we expect that should never take for granted first responders and law enforcement acted like the

heroes that they are working to stop the shooter, secure there scene can help the victims and to save lives. we are grateful to the first responders that so often are called on to run to the sound of gunfire to keep us safe, not to run away.he unite it is unthinkable that this kind of tragedy could have been in the united states of america and i'm sorry to say that it's become a regular occurrence. this was the worst. yesterday, october 1, was also the two-year anniversary of the mass shooting in oregon and also this last weekend at least 33 people were shot in the city of chicago at least four of them died. the relentless toll of gun violence never seems to stop.

the american medical association declared gun violence is a public-health crisis in america. public health crisis in america. on an average day on an average day, 300 americans were shotarl, mass shootings come as and senr murphy said earlier, has become a daily occurrence if our critics would say please don't exploit the event of a mass shooting by speaking on the floor and senator murphy made clear we can't let this becomeme the new american normal. we can't just shrug ourd shoulders when we see over 30,000 americans shot and killed year after year after year. we can't sit back and do nothing while hundreds of fellow

americans are shocked and in one night simply because they went to hearing music concert. this is last week i was at a concert in nashville tennessee. people were gathered there and namely folks from the northwest, many of them retired i'm sure as the people of las vegas did. what are we going to do about it, certainly there will be outrage.n that's what he challenges to think about we serve in the o united states senate. we are not just casual observers of this violence. we are supposed to pass balls to

make america safer. what will we do because of what happened in las vegas last night that is the question that brings me to the floor this evening. if we have the responsibility to keep our families in america safe, what are we prepared to do for the deaths in chicago there's some things which i would do instantly. background checks i don't believe they should be able to walk into a gun show and buy a firearm or more than one. the loopholes lead to death, death on the streets of chicago and we also have purchases being made by straw purchasers in t other words a girlfriend that

has no criminal record that walks into a gunshot in the suburbs of chicago and buys a gun for her boyfriend outside of the car who's going to use it that night to shoot up a rival gang member or some other criminal activity.s so to make sure that we do something about the straw purchasers so that the penalties are serious enough that they will never do it again. and there's more. this morning i was on a radio show in chicago, a fellow named steve cochran separating his 1,000th show on the air and this was the topics we talked about. he asked me what happens, what can we do.

the constitution to stand up and leave i'm talking about the members of my family's who were hunters and sportsmen. we have to have people who are concerned about guns for self-defense to stand up and say we have to draw a reasonable line. there is no reasonable line under the second amendment that would allow what happened in lak vegas last night. to think that someone could injure, shoot over 500 people and killed 58 what kind of weaponry did he use, we will find out the details but it goes beyond any reasonable weapon needed for self-defense in the sport for hunting purposes to draw a reasonable lines of linet the combat and military style weapons can lead to such carnage are not considered to be normal or acceptable. said

decades ago we said this is a weapon no one should have, period except for the military co and perhaps law enforcement. can we return to that conversation for the people that believe in the second amendment to make it happen. we've seen democrats and republicanrepublicans joined too pass meaningful walls to do with public health crisis like sam viewing direction. we have to do the same from this public health crisis. the surgeon general of the united states was almost denied that opportunity because he was bold enough to say that this is a public-health crisis. gupublic health crisis. gun violence is a public health crisis.ly it certainly is. there is no single policy that would've prevented the tragic shootings as there is no single wall or policy that would end the heroine overdose but let's

start working together to do hae something. t the we failed to respond in time for those victims and their families. but if we work together we can stop the shootings in the future. strive to do. we must do all we can to spare their families the unimaginable pain that so many in las vegas are feeling today in the aftermath of this horrible tragedy and i hope we will. mr. president, i yield the floor. >> i want to commend the words and determination for actions that were expressed by the senator from connecticut and illinois. like them and so many across the country, i start with both

condolences and prayers, condolences to the family whose names of the family we don't know yet of this most recent tragedy but we do know that they are not only worthy of our expressions of condolence books will be in need of our prayersas those that responded like they always do with running towards the danger and running to help.. we can't say enough about the work that they do. if we stop at expressing condolences and offering prayers and commending those who take action by first responders and law enforcement, if we stop there i don't think that is an adequate response to the tragedy just like it wasn't an adequate response in connection with the

nightclub or the tragedy in december 2012 in newtownwtown, c connecticut. i believe we have to take action and i will talk about that in a moment.. it must start with what happens on this floor if there isn't for debate and collaboration on the legislation i and all of the considerations of legislation here on the floor of the senate, and i would hope in the united states house of representatives. the enormity of this tragedy is almost hard to comprehend when you think of not just in terms of the number, which last count was 58 killed and over 500lmost

injured. those numbers are almost too large to comprehend that one person with one weapon or maybe several was able to inflict that kind of carnage in one place and one time.e i don't know how long it took but he wasn't shooting for very long to kill that many people. he did it in a short timeframe. but when you consider those numbers i have to ask i don't know if i went back and compared a similar day and time fram timd the loss of life in the context of the war but i'm sure there where americans were on foreign soil in a battle where we would have lost even more lives on a particular day or a portion of a particular day.

so the scale is almost unimaginable. and then when you consider what has been happening on the c streets, every community has their own number and i can point to pennsylvania just since 2014. thousands of shootings when estimated i think over 7,700 but then of course the more ominouss number is the number of people killed as a result of the shootings. in pennsylvania since 2014, some 2,072 people have died in our of state as a result of that larger number of shootings. i think four of the nation and certainly undoubtedly for me, maybe the most important or seminal moment of the day was december of 2012 at sandy hook elementary school in connectic

connecticut. he remembers it better than probably any other member and others who lived through it. one of the questions i asked myself after watching hours and hours of television coverage and reading a lot about it and then watching a news report on sunday evening which tracked the pathway of the killer, going to one classroom and killing 20 children, six or 7-year-oldgr first grader's. after he had done that he was oo his way to another classroom. so i concluded from that.

we would have been reading in addition to the 20 killed in the one classroom and the adults, we would have been reading about potentially hundreds killed in one school in less than a day, maybe an hour or two or three. but that didn't happen and he took his own life. i began to ask myself, not only what should we do in response to this and i concluded at thatoi point to support the legislati legislation.nd but a larger question kept coming to mind.son if one person with one button or a few weapons and unlimited can ammunition, if one person can tell not only 20 in connecticut, i guess almost 50 people in

florida and now that we know from las vegas at least 58 and i'm sure some who are injured will die, but if one person can do that, we have to ask ourselves is there nothing we rg can do, because that becomes part of the debate. one side says it's take action by way of legislation or take some action that would reduce the likelihood that you have more tragedies like this, more mass shootings. but the response comes back to the other side says we agree itt is tragic. l we agree we want to reduce the likelihood. there is nothing we can do legislatively to reduce the likelihood or to prevent it.hoor i don't think anyone would argue that a law that passe passes ine even i

that passes even in the the aftermath of sandy hook among t preschool if they passed, no one could argue with certitude or scientific position thawithscieu pass this law this many lives would be saved. but after this, is there nothing we can do legislatively. the most powerful country in the world that led to the world in winning world war ii, that wasn't on its way to winning until we got involved and we were forced to respond because we were attacked. a country that has built the

strongest republican history of the human race that has the strongest military without a doubt has the strongest economy without a doubt, has so much in the ways we can point to for american exceptionalism and strength and achievement unmatched anywhere in the world was part of american life that you can point to. is that same country completely disabled from taking an action h that would reduce the likelihood and we would hope substantially reduce the likelihood that we won't have another las vegas or another orlando or newtown. is that what our answer is goind

to be a. we take action when there's a natural disaster and we are seeing some of the most recently he take action as a government. the congress takes action, the executive takes action. and in this circumstance what can only be described as an epidemic might be an understatement. we are losing more than 30,000 people a year. are we saying that there is nothing we can do legislatively to reduce that likelihood? i adjust don't think they would conclude that there is nothing we can do. so, when i consider that in the

context of sandy hook i had to t ask myself are you saying that you are going to vote no becaus? you believe that there's nothing we can do a. you're going to say no three times as it turns out to the legislation becausthelegislatioe that there is nothing thisll legislative body can do? i decided to vote yes at least but even that isn't enough. we haven't had the votes in years on these issues and here we are almost five as leader in december it will be five years, half a decade since the massacre at sandy hook.

i have a page from "the wall street journal" printed within a couple days of the tragedy the small biographies of those people, the six-year-olds and ay 7-year-old and it's been on my desk all of these years and itr. is a him the copy of a newspaper article and i often think about what those families have gone through all these years, the great recording artist bruce springsteen have a recording after september 11. the song was your missing and the refrain of the song ofsi course was your missing, talkin, about someone that lost a loved one in 9/11. he says at one point you're

missing when i turn out the lights and your missing when i close my eyes.amilies have unfortunately and tragically, families in the las vegas area and maybe well beyond las vegas who were there for that concert. so, i hope that this will be an occasion not just for speeches and expressions of condolence, accommodation for those who showed such bravery in this tragedy. this will be a time for action, meaning action in the context of debate and legislation. i think there's a number of

steps we could take and i won't outline them all. a number of common sense steps we can take that are entirely rc consistent with the second amendment that would reduce the likelihood over time that we have more and more of these tragedies. or maybe, just maybe taking action that will reduce the number of deaths. even that would be substantial progress. but i just cannot abide or accept the idea that there is absolutely nothing we can do legislatively to reduce the likelihood and i would hope substantially reduce the likelihood that we can prevent t tragedies or reduce the number of tragedies. mr. president, i would yield the floor.

the eyeli eyelids in annapolis maryland, and i teach where we are filming now. a lot of us are concerned with our heritage, they heritage of slavery and the civil war. i'm sure many of you heard there is a statue that the dred scott decision has taken down.

my concern is how do we have conversations about our past and here at st. john's we read frederick douglass and the dred scott decision, speeches of linking and we try to have conversations with one another about the issues and i suppose that is one of the things i care about most deeply how can we have conversations where everyone is respect that but also an understanding can be reached about issues that matter for our heritage and our history and what is happening today. so that is what i'm hoping for. not just fighting and arguing and power struggles, but the real conversations and building

the real communities. >> i believe that a major issue in the state of maryland is most important thing wheimportantly t of the prison walls i believe in the housing and support system is vital to keeping. so the people that were formerly incarcerated we've got to keep them and for states safe. >> i'm the president of st. john's college. i think the issue that is most critical to address is the issue of the civil discourse. at st. john's college, we offer young people the opportunity to sit around the table and discuss in the seminar the most important issues of what it means to be a human being, what

it takes to have a flourishing society. and if we sit around a table and look each other in the eye and address one another is humanity and begin the conversation we will get a much stronger nation, better society and come closer to finding solutions for the problems that we face. so, i encourage everybody out there to think about that model of civil discourse to address each other for us as human beings and then ask tough questions together. >> i'm a junior at st. john's college, student adviser at the art gallery, and correctly at the mitchell art gallery is the full collection and my job and responsibility is to teach people about the art and get

them involved in the workshops of the offer here at st. john's and the community of kannapolis. it's important for people to understand art because he will understand history and literature into the culture. i think it's important because you can understand history and to itself and where you want to go in the future. a look at the supreme court where this is the first day of the supreme court term. lawrence is here at the table to tell us about this. good morning. let's start with your headline from a recent