bennet: thank you, mr. president. to guarantee we keep a sacred promise to our nation's seniors and protect the nation's medicare program for years to come. the budget we have in front of us mr. president doesn't balance our values or priorities as a country. the presiding officer: the senate is not in order. the senate will be in order. mr. bennet: thank you, mr. president. unfortunately it misses the mark entirely for our seniors. to put it into perspective the senate republican budget cuts the medicare program by almost three times as much as the house republican budget. my amendment ensures we protect our seniors from any efforts to cut medicare beneficiaries guaranteed benefits, privatize medicare or increase out-of-pocket beneficiary spending on drugs or prevention services. in 2013, over half of medicare beneficiaries had incomes below $23,000 a year. we can't attempt to balance the nation's budget on the backs of our seniors. there's a reason why the national committee to preserve social security and medicare

bennet: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator colorado. mr. bennet: thank you. i also rise to speak in favor of the portman-bennet amendment. this amendment is based on a bill i introduced earlier this year called the ace kids act that recognizes the critical importance of medicaid to children with severe medical conditions and highlights the need for greater coordination and integration of care across the country for 2 million children. earlier this month i met with he everett ettinger, aen 8-year-old boy who has spina bifida, a neurological disorder of the spine. it took his mom maureen two years to get him signed up under medicaid and to establish a system to coordinate all- all his care. he let his mom explain to me her frustrating experience trying to coordinate the payments for her care. we need to focus on kids like everett all across this kufnlt i thank senator portman for his leadership in offering this amendment and urge my colleagues to vote "yes." thank you, mr. president. mr. portman: mr. president, i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer

so that's what -- senator bennet. bennet. >> conlin. thank you very much for holding this hearing, and thank you both for your leadership. dr. hamburg i'm sorry to see to which i know the chairman feels as well. i would like to ask a number of years ago call around a committee came to me and said we can't raise venture capital anymore in the united states. it's all going to europe, all going to issue. a lot of that had to do with the regulatory uncertainty at the fda. i had the opportunity in 2012 agenda to team up with senator burr and senator hatch to write legislation that now has created a pathway. under your leadership is responsible for -- a lot of people thought the only one of two drugs in the pipeline. there have been 22 drugs approved as a result of that legislation and there are 55 more drugs in the pipeline, as i understand it. it has exceeded beyond our wildest dreams i think it's fair to say. and i want to thank you for that. as you begin to leave, and ask you to talk a little bit about the shift in the culture at the fda

we know very little about the meeting on michael bennet placer appomattox -- unlike bennett place or appomattox. it was not recorded. but they do agree that the confederate soldiers will surrender under the same terms as appomattox meaning turning over military equipment and receiving parole passes and getting everybody home. because this was done without the commanding general, there is going to have to be another meeting. forget that, just one -- before i get to that, just one interesting fact. general bruckner surrendered earlier in the war at tennessee so he has the honor of surrendering confederate armies twice during the civil war. while that happens in new orleans, general smith arrives in marshall, texas. and he learns what has happened and is not happy. i want to briefly read his address to his soldiers. a lot of you know about general order number nine, lee's farewell address to his soldiers. very elegant. this is general smith's address. "soldiers, i am left a commander without an army, a general without troops. you have made your choice. it is unwise and unpatriotic but i

bennet proposes amendment numbered 601. ms. stabenow: thank you very much. mr. president, medicare turns 50 years old this year, and this is not the time to turn our back on medicare. and the universal nature of medicare. we all understand and have confidence after paying into the system year after year that turning age 65 or meeting the other qualifications of the act mean that health care will be available to everyone, regardless of where you live, regardless of who you are. medicare is a great american success story. before medicare became law only half of americans who are 65 years of age or ordinarily had any type -- or older had any type of health insurance. they couldn't find health insurance. and those who found health insurance were paying through the roof to be able to get that insurance. and oftentimes they were paying but lacked coverage for surgery or health expenses that were -- that occurred outside the hospital. and you could have one single surgery or illness appeared be totally wiped out -- and be totally wiped out. and so our country came toge

it was co-sponsored by senator bennet and myself. but this would say that -- although we made some progress we have a long way to go. it complements the amendment which was discussed earlier regarding career and technical education with senator kaine and myself and i believe senator kaine is going to co-sponsor this amendment as well. but to the point he made earlier about skills training, this is about taking this to worker retraining programs. right now we know from what g.a.o. has told us that approximately $18 billion is being spent to administrator different employment and training programs over nine different federal ways. by the way 44 of those 47 programs are viewed to be overlapping with one another by the g.a.o.. with regard to the programs, g.a.o. says, quote, little is known about the effectiveness of most programs. so we talked earlier about the need for not just more jobs but better jobs. that's going to come from more productivity. that's going to come from better training. that's going to come from closing the skills

and i think the legislation senator bennet senator byrd worked on may have helped to contribute to that opportunity. so this is the discussion that can affect nearly every american. and in which we're going to take very seriously. senator byrd identified a report that issued a white paper that we've been working on for some time. it focused on the issues that we thought the committee ought to identify, and we've submitted that to senator murray and to the rest of the members of the committee for their consideration. costing too much to bring medical products through the discovery process and development process taking too long. whether fda's responsibilities include unrelated activities to what the focus should be. the disparity and scientific knowledge of the fda and the fast pace of biomedical innovation. those are some of the issues that we focused on. but what we hope to learn today from two distinguished leaders of our government is exactly what should we be focusing on? we don't want to waste our time. we can't do everything. this train is moving through the station in the next tw

bennet number 547. murkowski number 838. inhofe number 649. i further ask consent that there be two minutes equally divided between the managers or their designees prior to each vote and that all votes after the first in this series be 10 minutes in length. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. enzi: for the information of all senators, this will be the first series of votes today. i'd suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. cochran: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. mr. cochran: i ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment and to -- first of all suggest that the quorum be rescinded. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cochran: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment and call up my amendment number 932. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: the senator from mississippi, mr. cochran for himself and ms.

and i think the legislation senator bennet, senator byrd worked on may have helped to contribute to that opportunity. so this is the discussion that can affect nearly every american. and in which we're going to take very seriously. senator byrd identified a report that issued a white paper that we've been working on for some time. it focused on the issues that we thought the committee ought to identify, and we've submitted that to senator murray and to the rest of the members of the committee for their consideration. costing too much to bring medical products through the discovery process and development process taking too long. whether fda's responsibilities include unrelated activities to what the focus should be. the disparity and scientific knowledge of the fda and the fast pace of biomedical innovation. those are some of the issues that we focused on. but what we hope to learn today from two distinguished leaders of our government is exactly what should we be focusing on? we don't want to waste our time. we can't do everything. this train is moving through the station in the next tw

bennet, proposes an amendment numbered 947. mr. bennet: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that we dispense with the reading of the amendment. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. bennet: thank you mr. president. this is a simple amendment. it increases the amount of money that small businesses can expense in any given year. that gives them the opportunity to purchase new equipment and grow the economy and it's especially important to places like the state of colorado where small businesses make up 97% proliferate employers in our state. -- of the employers in our state. this increases the expensing 979 amounts to $1 million. right now it's at $25,000. if we ever manage to pass another extenders bill, it will increase to $500,000. as we all know, many small businesses are passthrough entities so they pay the individual tax rate even though they may use business tax credits and deductions. so in tax reform, they may lose some of the their credits but not see a corresponding drop in their tax rates. as we begin the process of reform

and i will work with senator bennet and anyone who is committed to these common goals. to many people -- too many people believe that government can no longer address the great challenges of our time. an $18 trillion debt, mounting entitlement crisis, a health care crisis that continues into the new century and seemingly overwhelming foreign policy challenges. some leaders would have us believe that they can't do anything about it, that a managed decline is better than a rapid decline but the american people know better. they don't have to and indeed they will not accept second best. a government that we can be proud of is one that solves the greatest challenges of our time, balances our budget, puts in place solutions that rise above the rhetoric. a government we can be proud of again means an america that is always advancing and never in retreat. our search for solutions our search for a government we can be proud of comes from the common bond, regardless of color, gender or creed and yes, even party that we as americans all hold. the shared story of our lives the unr