mr. mccain. senator levin. >> thank you -- >> senator levin and senator begich. >> thanks, very much, mr. chairman. first, let me thank you mr. johnson, for your answer to the call to public service again and answer being yes and your family. we thank them for the support which is so essential to all of you who have taken these jobs with such responsibility. you and i have talked in my office about a number of things and one of them i want to get into some detail on this morning has to do with the fact that we have about two million corporations that are created every year in in united states, by our 50 states. that is more than the rest of the world combined. the states approve these incorporations without ever asking who the real owners of the corporations are who are the beneficial owners of these corporations. some of these corporations get involved with medicare fraud tax evasion terrorism smuggling, drug trafficking and other wrongdoing. now just a few months ago, in june, at the g20 summit

mr. mccain: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to address the senate as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: mr. president, he the events and votes that took place today are probably as historic as any votes that i have seen taken in the years that i have been here in the united states senate. the majority, with only majority -- the majority, with only majority votes, the same as was passed with obamacare, with only democrat votes, changed the rules of the senate in a way that is detrimental, in my view, not only to the united states senate, not only to those of us in the minority party, but great damage to the institution itself. one of the men who served in this senate for a long, long time that we respected as much or more than any other leader -- he certainly knew the senate rules more than any of the rest of us combined -- was one robert byrd. three months before his death, robert byrd wrote this letter, "during my half century of service and various

mr. mccain: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: while he's here on the floor, i want to thank my cheeg from tennessee for -- my colleague from tennessee for this legislation, the hard work he's done on it, and also wit te were significant pain and difficulties faced by thinks constituents in tennessee. this is something that will benefit all americans. a rare bipartisan celebration around here. i thaipg my colleague from tennessee. mr. president, first of all, i'd like to obviously join all of my colleagues in welcoming back our dear friend, th the senator from oklahoma, senator inhofe. we know he's gone through a very terrible family tragedy, and our thoughts and prayers continue to be with him and the members of his family, and we are very happy to see him back and working on this very important -- and leading in this very important aspect of our work here, and that is the defense authorization act. today i will have filed an amendment on behalf of senator sessions and myself -- senator sessions, as we all know, the rankin

mr. mccain: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: mr. president, i would like to thank my friend and colleague from maine for his very thoughtful statement and from having conversations with him, i know he didn't come to this decision easily but i certainly think he made a very strong argument for the decision he arrived at. he and i and all of us share a deep and abiding concern about the issue that's before the senate in the form of the amendment to the national defense authorization act on the floor. it is a very difficult situation we are facing. it is an unacceptable situation where men and women in the military may be exposed to sexual assault but more important thanly than that the individuals that are responsible for those assaults be held accountable. so really what we're talking about here today is, are we going to hold the people who are in charge accountable for bringing to justice those who are offenders, or are we going to farm that responsibility out to some other entity or some other individual or some other part of the b

mrs. mccain very welcome, megyn kelly to thank you for having me. neil: how is everyone? dad still gets feisty about everything. sometimes i want to talk to him about father daughter stefansson of health care. [laughter] neil: every time you have your father on, he always gets very riled up. his big thing is that we share a common cause. >> yes, especially i get into that within that time, the intense reactions, we are so divided as a party, with emotions and feelings, they get so wrapped up. >> that lump your data in there, i guess. the renegades, conservatives, tea party, libertarians. is that bad? >> i'm 29 years old and i focus on getting more young voters in minority voters and women voters and that is want to reach out to a different demographic than we traditionally have and that is what has made near rino and that is something that has evolved with the times. >> i like chris christie and we got in a fight recently. neil: i heard about that. >> i just don't see how he gets through a primary. especially to the republican primary. people call me a rino because i'm a

mr. mccain, but he grudgingly, lately, gave him his endorsement.f the many side projects launched by focus on the family after they moved to colorado springs was kind of a sister organization called love won out. it was an organization designed to cure people of being gay. they would help you pray the gay away. homosexuality is treatable, so if you end up gay, it's just your fault for refusing to be treated and cured. as focus on the family got bigger and more influential over the years, it ended up turning colorado springs into almost kind of a company town. colorado springs became the evangelical capital of the country, by some people's measure. and that, of course, had huge repercussions for the town. just ask yelp, but it also had repercussions for one specific branch of the united states military. the hq for focus on the family is just a very, very short drive away from the united states air force academy, which was already in colorado springs when focus on the family moved there in the 1990s, but there's been signs of struggle over the outsiz

mccain. >> thank you. mr. johnson, i have known you for a number of years, and i'm very pleased that you will be taking on these new responsibilities. i view you as an outstanding public servant, and i'm confident that your nomination will be very, the process and confirmation will be very smooth. your predecessor, i want to talk about the border with you. your predecessor stated frequently the border is more secure than ever citing the reduction in apprehensions as a proof of that progress being made, and she said it for a number of years. do you agree with that statement? >> senator, i've seen the same numbers, i noted that the numbers are going down. there might be a recent trend upward, but one of the things that if i'm corn r confirm -- confirmed i'm going to look at is exactly how we should define border security and whether those numbers are an accurate reflection of border security. >> are well, in reality over the last two years there's been a 20 increase in apprehensions along the border. now, when y

mr. cornyn: i would ask the senior senator from oklahoma isn't it true you have the materials senator mccain referred to posted on your web site? mr. coburn: i do. coburn dot senate dot gov. every study we've published, all the waste, all the duplication. there's at least $200 billion a year that the g.a.o. -- not tom coburn -- has identified in waste and duplication in the federal

mr. president, that senator feinstein be added as a cosponsor to our side-by-side amendment, the levin-mccain amendment. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: guantanamo continues to be a damaging reminder of a failed strategy that sought to put captured terrorists beyond the reach of the law and u.s. courts. a dozen years ago, the bush administration started sending detainees to gitmo in large part out of a desire to avoid the jurisdiction of the united states courts and ensure that detainees would have no legal avenue to appeal their convictions. now, whether or not one adopted -- whether or not one supported that approach, that argument ended in 2008 when the supreme court in the boumedine case ruled that gitmo detainees would be treated as being inside the united states for the purpose of habeas corpus appea appeals. instead of recognizing the problems with maintaining the gitmo facility, the problems of extreme cost and that it adds no additional security to what exists if these people are brought to the united states for military trial, for -- as being held as prisoners u

. >> a lot of pub back from republicans including senator john mccain who of course ran against mr. ama for the white house. john mccains say not only causes problems, here is john mccain. >> what we really did today and what is so damning and will last for a long time that could permanently change the unique aspects of this institution, the united states senate, is if a majority and change the rules then only a majority can change the rules, then there are no rules. so tony, what changed today. in the past, this morning when we started the session here in the senate. it took 60 votes to overcome a filibuster threat, what senator reid did is pushed that to 51. so 51 can move something forward, like an executive branch appointment that the president is trying to make. democrats say they won't use it for supreme court nominees or laws, bills, just use it to get these court positions filled. >> libby casey, appreciate it. i have to tell you, there's been plenty of talk about the filibuster, but it's taken on new urgency in recent years. randall pinkston is here now waya bit of backgroun

mccain? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to ask you a question about what i thought was the end of your oral presentation. we don't have the written testimony. i don't want to put words in your mouth. tend of your oral presentation after you were done with the charts you were sort of offering the advice to us about the sa -- sulutory effects of finding a deal which would involve compromise between the house and senate. this refers a little bit to the opening comment that senator warner made. i've been worried about uncertainty as an ankle wait around economic recovery. i would like you to elaborate on the final comments and talk about the extent that you think uncertainty is an ankle weight on the recovery and if we can find a deal for 13, 14sh, 15 or beyond and see positive economic effects. >> yes, senator. so we and many analysts i think have concluded that uncertainty about federal fiscal policy has been considerable drag on economic activity in the past few years. but quantifying that effect is very difficult. we

mccain. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i thank all the witnesses. i especially thank dick thornburgh and tom ridge. i think you prefer governor to those others, don't you? [laughter] i remember the day, then the president of the unit states, sunday americans with disabilities act on the lawn of the white house and someone of our friends from the disabilities community were there to celebrate what has been. i don't know anyone who doesn't believe that the passage of that act was not an unqualified success. it gave opportunities for some of our disabled community to get ahead in our society, and have rights which they previously had been deprived of. mr. meyer, you made some very important constructive recommendations, in my view, in this legislation come in your statement. and i would just like to ask you a couple of additional questions. on the issue of abortion, the resolution of advice and consent that this committee passed last year that contained the following understanding on how this attribute relates the u.s. law concerning abortion, quote, n

mccain. >> thank you. mr. johnson, i have known you for a number of years. i am very pleased that you will these newon responsibilities. i view you as an outstanding public servant. i am confident that your smooth.on will be very your predecessor, i want to talk about the border. statededecessor frequently the border is more secure than ever, citing the reduction in apprehensions as a proof of that progress being made. she said it for a number of years. do you agree with that statement? >> i have seen the same numbers. i noted they are going down. it might be a recent trend upward. one of the things i want to look at his exact lee how we should define border security and whether the numbers are an accurate reflection of order security. >> in reality, there has been a 20% increase in apprehensions along the border. when your predecessor made the , itements, i used to just cannot tell you the frustration i felt. real reason the apprehensions or down was because the economy. now that the economy is getting stronger, apprehensions are up. if they are up 20% that

mccain? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to ask you a question about what i thought was the end of your oral presentation. we don't have the written testimony. i don't want to put words in your mouth. tend of your oral presentation after you were done with the charts you were sort of offering the advice to us about the sa -- sulutory effects of finding a deal which would involve compromise between the house and senate. this refers a little bit to the opening comment that senator warner made. i've been worried about uncertainty as an ankle wait around economic recovery. i would like you to elaborate on the final comments and talk about the extent that you think uncertainty is an ankle weight on the recovery and if we can find a deal for 13, 14sh, 15 or beyond and see positive economic effects. >> yes, senator. so we and many analysts i think have concluded that uncertainty about federal fiscal policy has been considerable drag on economic activity in the past few years. but quantifying that effect is very difficult. we

mccain. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i thank all of the witnesses. especially mr. thornburgh and mr. ridge. i'm sure you prefer governor. [laughter] i remember with great nostalgia the then president of united states, herbert walker bush, signed the disabilities act on the lawn and so many of our friends from the disability community was there to celebrate what has been, i don't know anyone who does not believe that the passage of that act was not an unqualified success. it gave opportunities for some of our disabled community to get ahead in our society and have rights which they previously had been deprived of. mr. meyer, you have made some important, constructive legislation in your statement, and i would just like to ask you a couple of additional questions. on the issue of abortion, the resolution of advice and consent that this committee passed last year contains the following understanding on how this treaty relates to u.s. law concerning abortion. "nothing in the convention, including article 25, addresses the provision of any particular health program or procedure. do you th

mr. mayor. i'm not the only one praising the french here. arizona senator and "bomb, bomb iran" lead vocalist john mccain tweeted "france had the courage to preventad nuclear agreement with iran. vive la france." unfortunately, due to his inexperience with twitter he accidentally typed this into his microwave. (laughter) nation, you know if you watch the show i've been tough on france in the past. it's a miracle they survived the humiliation that was freedom fries. i don't think they're going to come back from that one but i think it's time to show them our gratitude so people of france in honor of your bravery from now on this shall be nobody as french cheese. (cheers and applause) you're welcome, france. it ages -- (cheers and applause) it ages beautifully, a thousand years from now it will taste exactly the same. (laughter) and now that france has saved the world, we must never, ever go back to the negotiating table with iran. here to tell me why we must go back to the negotiating table with iran is the president of the national iranian american council trita parsi. mr. parsi, thank you so much for coming. (cheers and applause) thanks so much.

in a letter to the president yesterday, mccain and five other senators of both parties urged mr obamapress maliki to formulate a comprehensive political and security strategy that can stabilize the country. high on their list of complaints: iran's influence in iraq, and iran's use of iraqi airspace to transit military assistance into syria to support president bashar assad and his forces. iraq's ambassador to the u.s., lukman faily, says baghdad has told iran it won't tolerate such overflights of weapons. but until promised u.s. fighter jets are delivered next fall, he insists, there is little his country can do. >> we think it's a bit unfair for others to ask us to stop a plane or to stop a plane while we haven't got the capabilities to force down a plane. to force it down. we don't have the f16 or any of that type of fighter to try to force a plane >> i just think it's an excuse. there are plenty of nations who don't have the ability to police their airspace yet they don't allow overflights particularly of this nature. look, these are plane load after plane load of lethal weapons th

mr. chairman and i want to congratulate you as well as senator mccain or the excellent op-ed in "usa today". i appreciate your efforts and i just want to thank all of you for being here today to discuss this important issue. as a physician has practiced medicine for over 25 years i've seen first-hand the challenges facing the with disabilities. every individual regardless of the obstacles in their life should have tendency to work live and take part in our society. the united states has been the leader in working to end discrimination and break down barriers that prevent the full participation of all members. >> senator want to thank secretary ridge for joining us and we headed to gritty had planed to catch so thank you very much. senator barrasso. >> thank you mr. chairman and mr. chairman as we have discussed over 20 years of congress passed the americans with disabilitdisabilit ies act. this commission is based on the same principles as the americans with disabilities act of nondiscrimination and equal opportunity independence accessibility human dignity and full and effective participa

mccain a full throated endorsement for 2016. during a speech in iowa, the new yorker became the highest ranking senator urging her to run. mrs.d she's flattered but still hasn't made up her mind. >>> stuff talk from nancy pelosi, she's lashing out at the gchl op for the so-called hastert rule. >> this is an odd group, but we just can't wait around for the hastert rule which isn't a rule. it isn't a rule. it's an excuse. >> chris christie was on the campaign trail over the weekend at a stop on the rutgers campus, he told the story of an 82-year-old woman who said she was constantly praying for him. >> that night when i went to bed, i said lord, please give our governor strength. because i don't know how much more [ bleep ] this boy can take. these are my people, man. these are my people. >> and our open rachel maddow made a cameo appearance on the simpsons last night. here is a little recap. >> hello, kent. >> well, well, well. rachel maddow. >> i'm going to tell you the most important mistake you ever made. after this break. so, kent, that mistake you marks that fundamental life changing error, that cosmic fail. >> just tell

, did you article on president obama's first election, about john mccain wanted to have the private financing or public financing, and mr. obama ended up not doing its. and i don't think anybody ever found out where his money came from. host: andy kroll? where hisdo know money came from, because in terms of the money he raised or his campaign, it was a record- setting amount. some 700 $15 million in cash hundred $15 million in 2008. we know that the bundlers were also named by the campaign. but the caller is absolutely right. president obama said he would use public financing. he opted out. john mccain longtime advocate of finance reform made an issue around that. that is something we covered in 2012. how much president obama relied on big donors. looking postelection how organizing for action, the rebooted version of the campaign by offeringnors them access to the president. money in politics should apply to president obama without a doubt. we have continued to look at it along the way and will continue to do so and in 2016, we will look at those candidates. hillary clinton, of course, as well. kroll'su can see andy la

mr. johnson but because of the topic, what are your thoughts? i love it when john mccain gets feisty. it is important to him and his state. border metrics are hard. a lot of dhs officials will point to the fewer apprehensions over the last few years. could that be because they are doing their job well or could it be they are not catching people? border metrics are very difficult. hedgingjeh johnson was a bit when senator mccain says i don't want your inclination, i want your yes or no answer. when mr. johnson refused to comply, its because he is very aware of how difficult metrics can be. we have seen a sense on capitol hill of wanting to grow the border patrol and provide them more equipment. the folks in the border patrol i have talked to have said stop, we have to absorb what you have given us and grow where you want us to grow and we want a breather to assimilate everything you have already done and then we can take a step toward. metrics are included in that. host: our deportation tire in this administration? >> they are but apprehensions , a simple trend is not enough. you have

i just bumped into senator mccain and i did tell him that's one of the great lines. now to the serious stuff. mrilemann, i've got to jump ahead of the plan here. was getting rid of joe biden and putting hillary clinton on the ticket -- i mean this literally -- a live option. you know what that means. a considered real possibility or was it not? >> well, when we reported the book and it has been confirmed now by a wide variety of people in the obama inner circle is they studied the matter. they said we need to look at all options. the president's political standing is bad. this is in the fall of 2011. that we need to examine this. it would be a dereliction of duty to not look. would hillary clinton added make a difference? the answer to that question when they looked at the polling, the answer was no. so it was never considered in the sense that they had -- the initial research proved it wouldn't have moved the needle. >> if you're joe biden -- >> -- looked at a way in they denied always doing before. >> in other words, if you're joe biden, they hung me out to see if i would pass muster with focu

i just bumped into senator mccain and i did tell him that's one of the great lines. now to the serious stuff. mrann, i've got to jump ahead of the plan here. was getting rid of joe biden and putting hillary clinton on the ticket -- i mean this literally -- a live option. you know what that means. a considered real possibility or was it not? >> well, when we reported the book and it has been confirmed now by a wide variety of people in the obama inner circle is they studied the matter. they said we need to look at all options. the president's political standing is bad. this is in the fall of 2011. that we need to examine this. it would be a dereliction of duty to not look. would hillary clinton added make a difference? the answer to that question when they looked at the polling, the answer was no. so it was never considered in the sense that they had -- the initial research proved it wouldn't have moved the needle. >> if you're joe biden -- >> -- looked at a way in they denied always doing before. >> in other words, if you're joe biden, they hung me out to see if i would pass muster with focus gr

mccain, i extend my appreciation for his advocacy in this effort and it has been an invaluable voice in this regard. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i thank all of the witnesses. mr. thornburgh and mr. ridge. i'm sure you prefer governor. [laughter] nostalgia with great the then president of united states, herbert walker bush, signed the disabilities act on the lawn and so many of our friends from the disability community was there to celebrate i don't know, anyone who does not believe that the passage of that act was not an unqualified success. it gave opportunities for some of our disabled community to get ahead in our society and have rights which they previously had been deprived of. , you have made some constructive legislation and i would just like to ask you a couple of additional questions. on the issue of abortion, the resolution of advice and consent that this committee passed last year contains the following understanding on how this treaty relates to u.s. law concerning abortion. "nothing in the convention, including article 25, addresses any particular health program or procedure. do you think that is suffi

. >> senator mccain i want to extend my hershey shin for his advocacy for the last effort and this effort has been an invaluable voice in this regard. >> thank you mr. chairman and i think the witnesses and i especially thank thornburgh and tom ridge. i think you preferred governor to those, don't you? [laughter] i want to thank you and i remember with great nostalgia that day the president of the united states herbert walker bush signed the americans with disabilities act on the lawn of the white house and so many of our friends from the disabilities community were there to celebrate. i don't know anyone who doesn't leave that the passage of that was not an unqualified success. he gave opportunities for some of our disabled community to get ahead in our society and have the rights which they had previously been deprived of. mr. meyer, you made some important constructive recommendations in my view in this legislation and your statement. i would like to ask you a couple of additional questions. on the issue of abortion, the resolution advise and consent that this committee passed last year that contained the following understanding on how the treat

mr. levin: this amendment, ways levin-mccain -- the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. please take your conversations outside. the senator from michigan. mr. levin: madam president, this amendment is a levin-mccain-feinstein-udall amendment. it clarifies that gitmo detainees would not gain any additional legal rights as a result of their transfer to the united states for deteption -- the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. 6 the senate will be in order. the senate will be in order. please take your confer converss to the hallway. mr. levin: thank you, madam president. any gitmo detainee who was transferred to the united states gains no additional legal rights. they also are not permitted to be released inside the united states. they don't lose their status as unprivileged, enemy belligerents eligible for trial, if they are transferred to the united states. they gain gain no additional right to challenge their detention beyond the habeas corpus that has been affirmed by the supreme court. i would hope this could be broadly supported. senator mccain? mr. mccain