they complain about that. the salt tax provision disproportion affects the wealthy. so on one hand you can have the wealthy getting textbook and on the other having a bill that if it's the wealthy. secondly there's a couple of assertions about graham-cassidy i have to address. we maintain a minimum health benefit. we encouraged provisions such as auto enrollment which could increase enrollment relative to now. we allowed pooling of individual markets in the medicaid pools which i'm told would lower premiums by 20%, therefore, making interest more affordable. again, folks on the left don't seem to care about those middle-class families paying 40,000 a year. i will say the criticisms and the status quo, the status quo still includes the individual mandate -- >> the last few minutes of this year, a quick reminder watch this in its entirety anytime online at c-span.org just type health and human services budget into the video search box to use

senate about the gavel and for a short pro forma session. no legislative work is expected. navigon five to the senate floor on c-span2. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c., february 16, 2018. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i here by appoint the honorable mitch mcconnell, a senator from the commonwealth of kentucky, who will perform the duties of the chair. signed: orrin g. hatch, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order the senate stands

adjourned coming up the next is tuesday the 20th at 5:00 p.m. eastern. again friday the 23rd at 2:00. lawmakers meet next for legislative work on monday, february 26th at 3:00 p.m. eastern when the annual reading of george washington's farewell address will take place. and join us tonight for a discussion on the security and vulnerabilities of u.s. election infrastructure. the top democrat on the senate administration committee, min society senator amy klobuchar, former homeland security secretary jeh johnson, address issues at the center for american progress. see their comments 8:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span2. former presidential candidate mitt romney announced today he is seeking the utah senate seat of retiring senator orrin hatch. we may hear more about his plans tonight when the former

massachusetts governor and two-time republican presidential candidate speaks at the lincoln day dinner, a utah county republican fund-raiser in utah. watch live coverage beginning at 9:00 p.m. eastern on our companion network, c-span. >> our live coverage of the the savannah book festival starts saturday morning at 9:00 eastern includes robert lattis. the future war, preparing for the global battlefield. scott shapiro, the internationalist. how a radical plan to outlaw war remade the world. set less hedley. how to talk with conversations that matter. savannah book festival beginning 9:00 eastern on c-span2's booktv. >> this weekend on american history tv, on c-span3, saturday at 8:00 p.m. eastern on lectures and history, former virginia

governor douglas wilder at virginia commonwealth university. >> i have a one word definition that i use for politics. can anyone guess what that is? i said one word would define politics. money. give me something that's a proposition before any tribunal that doesn't involve money. >> sunday at 10:00 a.m. eastern, from the west point center for oral history. henry hank thomas a combat medic during the vietnam war. >> my grandfather served servedn world war i. my father served in world war ii. always for a black man, whenever you served, it was your military service you hope would confirm your bonafides as a first class, red-blooded american citizen in

title too. >> at 4:00 p.m. on, "real america," with the cpac conference in washington, d.c. next week we look back to 1988 when president reagan spoke at a cpac dinner. >> the american people know what limited government, tax cuts, deregulation, and the move toward privatization have meant. it has meant the largest peacetime expansion in our history. i can guarranty you, they won't want to throw that away to return to budgets beholden to liberal special interests. >> watch american history tv every weekend on c-span3. u.s. northern command commander general lori robinson and u.s. southern command commander kurt tidd testified yesterday on the operation of their special commands. general robin addressed ballistic missile threats saying highest priority for t