senator markey has been speaking out on climate longer than i have been in the senate. senator schumer nelson, blumenthal schatz, king and baldwin have each joined me to speak of the effects of carbon pollution on their home states and economies. senator manchin and i from different perspectives spoke here about our shared belief that climate change is real and must be addressed. more than 30 fellow democrats held the floor overnight to bring attention to climate change under the leadership of senator schatz. our democratic leader, senator reid has pressed the senate to face up to this challenge and thousands of people in rhode island and across the country have shown their support. sometimes people ask me how do you keep coming up with new ideas? it's easy. there are at least 100 reasons to act on climate. hundreds of americans have sent me their reasons. through my web site and on facebook and on twitter using the 100 reasons hashtag and i'll highlight some of their reasons in this speech. what's my number-one reason? easy. rhode island. the consequences of carbon pol

covering the senate. rand paul did not say much entering the capitol building just now but he certainly did not seem like he was standing down's. here on c-span2 waiting for the senate to gavel backend to resume consideration of the usa freedom act or begin consideration on the expiring provisions of the patriot act's set to expire at midnight tonight. they were supposed to have devil than ten minutes ago. we understand our meetings on the democratic and republican side and those are still underway. live coverage of the senate when they gavel backend. in the meantime more debate from earlier this afternoon. >> i was i was struck by what the democratic leader said's. of course the history of this. we are here in a manufactured unnecessary crisis. it is a manufactured unnecessary crisis. last year over one majority past improvements to the patriot act. did away did away with the parts that have now been's declared illegal. we did that but but i get past the filibuster. fifty-eight votes. fifty-one votes to

senator isakson: it is a disaster. i took the senate committee to denver.e toured the entire facility, met with the contractors reviewed the progress of the project over the last 14 years. when the press in denver asked me what i thought of the hospital, i said i thought the hospital was a camel. they said, what do you mean? i said, a camel is a horse built by committee. and that is exactly what that hospital is. there are too many cooks, not enough people in the kitchen and not enough direction. not enough accountability. the v.a. does not need to be building anything. their job is to provide health care and benefits to our veterans. one of the things we will be doing this year before the year is out, i can promise you, is removing the authority from construction away from the v.a. and to the corps of engineers, whose job it is to build things. rebecca adams: following up on that, the senate version of the spending bill for the v.a. does include language on that, which would require the army corps of engineers to oversee these kinds of projects. so, you th

senate. mr. mcconnell: mr. president obviously, the -- the most sensitive political issue surrounding this is the currency issue, and i want to make sure everybody has a clear understanding of where we are on that. i explicitly did not offer the currency amendment to the t.p.a. bill, to the t.p.a. bill. we were told that it would not be a part -- if it were a part of t.p.a., we all know it would kill it. the president wouldn't sign the bill. so my goal is not to use currency to kill the t.p.a. bill and not to kill the t.p.a. bill. it's to get currency passed. and that's why we offered it to the customs bill, to the customs bill a separate bill on the view strong view that no one disputed in committee no one disputed this in committee that we'd get a vote separately, separately i repeat, on the customs bill on the floor and that it would come to the floor just like the other bills. so currency in the committee agreed they would deal with it on the customs bill and not on t.p.a. and now our fri

senator coons: thank jerry moran you. senator boozman: senator moran. senator moran: mr. chairman, thank you. senator coons for having this year. when i was in the position as ranking member, it had been nine years since the fcc testified in front of this committee. chairman powell came that year and we had the fcc in front of us every year cents. -- since. i think it's one of the most important agencies this subcommittee has jurisdiction over. i thank you for conducting this hearing. i thank the chairman and the commissioner for joining us. can chairman compeel, over the last week i asked several people who come in contact in their business lives in the f.c.c. what questions they would like me to ask you. the ultimate suggestion was, whatever you do, ask for a yes or no answer. and i'm going to try to do that as often as i can. although now i'm the one using up my time. senator coons asked a question about the incentive auction. and what i heard you say is that you are confident that the auction will occur early in 2016. that is a yes. chairman wheeler: that is a yes. se

the clerk: the senator from arkansas mr. cotton, for mr. rubio, proposes amendment numbered 1198 to amendment numbered 1197. on page 3 line -- mr. cotton: i ask unanimous consent the reading be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cotton: these amendments would would would do a very simple thing. one, they would require a vote on whether iran should get sanction relief before it disclose the nuclear program before it closes the underground bunker add fordow and before it submits to a verbal inspections regime. second it would require iran to acknowledge israel's right to exist before they get nuclear weapons because they continue to say that israel will be wiped off the map. and if they get nuclear weapons they will have the means to do so. mr. president, it is my intent to insist on a vote, but before a vote on this amendment a simple majority threshold the senate needs to vote. if you disagree with these policies vote "no." if you agree with the policies and you think this will upset a delicate compromise, vote "n

senate. this wonderful new building and this wonderful innovative technology exhibit outside leads to this wonderful replica of the united states senate chamber. it is the heart and soul of the institute. it is a full-scale replica with a little bit more technology, as you can see. if this is your first digit -- visit, i hope you will come again to see all that we offer you we are very pleased to welcome you today for the launch of one of our public program series, "get to the point." we are very excited have majority leader mitch mcconnell be our first speaker. our formula today will include remarks from senator mcconnell. it is my pleasure to introduce mrs. victoria reggie kennedy. we know her well in massachusetts. [applause] >> i think all has been said but you do know that she is a founding president of the institute and we would not be here without her energy, determination and her vision for making this place that will inspire a next generation of leaders. mrs. kennedy. [applause] mrs.

senator nelson. >> mr.rman as you know i intend to support this tpa bill but i was just surprised to find out that your staff last night did trying to keep an industry in my state alive on the extension of the bahrain trade preference which has been in effect since 2005 where they bring in yarn and make it into garments going into the u.s.. this is going to shut down in and a little rural town of 1500 people it's going to shut down in 300 employees. and my question to you since i will offer it and everybody can decide, i thought it would be acceptable. would you prefer -- my question to you is would you prefer me to offer them one of the other three bills? i don't care what bill is put on on. i would prefer it to go onto one of the other bills. >> would like to keep this bill clean because we have got to get it through the house. if we can do that it should go through the house. this is a very important thing in the present or wants this done. i'm actually getting exhilarated in supporting our president on

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. a senator: thank you mr. president, in a few minutes we will be holding a vote on whether or not to invoak cloture, cutting off debate and moving to the trade moargs authority bill. mr. gardner:, an important conversation this country needs to have in terms of what we need to do to expand our operation to the region of the world that represents 40% of our trade opportunities. a great opportunity for this congress this senate to show how serious we are about truly rebalancing our efforts with the asian nations. in colorado alone we've exported nearly $8.4 billion in goods in 2014 48% of all goods were exported in colorado in 2014. over 260,000 jobs are derived from trade with nations represented by the trans-pacific partnership negotiating group. and the t.p.p. represents an opportunity for colorado to create nearly 4,000 new jobs, and that's just a start. and so today's conversation isn't just a vote on whether or not we'll have more delay on an important bill. this is about something

senators are here to address issues in the united states senate. are there many things the house passes that i agree with? yes. my party controls the house. are there things here that i don't agree with that they've passed? yes, but we as senators act our prerogative in terms to weigh in on terms of where we stand and ultimately we take a vote and we either win or lose. sometimes it coordinates with the house of representatives and other times it doesn't but then we go to conference if we pass an alternative. but to say that there hasn't been debate relative to this program and the program that the house passed is just simply not -- not true. there has been such a significant unfortunate misrepresentation of what this program is and what this program isn't and that has caused a lot of angst in which we're trying to deal with this. much of the public -- at least some portion of the public is convinced that the government is listening to every phone call that they make. it's been said on this floor that they're listening to all your calls that they'r

of the senate as our next senate historian. we also wish kate scott well in her promotion to associate historian. employment the democratic leader. mr. reid: three decades ago when senator robert byrd began drafting a series of lectures on the history of the united states senate who did he go to for help? don ritchie. ten years ago when dan bowen the popular author of the bestseller "the da vinci code" wanted information about the capitol for his new novel where did he go? don ritchie. even now when famed his for i don't know and biographer robert carro needs facts for his five-volume work on lyndon johnson, he goes to don ritchie for help. for 39 years any person needing valuable insight into the united states senate and its history has known where to go. the senate historian don ritchie. don has obliged sharing his wealth of knowledge with anyone who asks -- senators, staff authors, historians, visitors. but after nearly 40 decades don will officially retire from the senate historical office at the end of this month as the se

senator boozman: senator coons. senator coons: thank you, chairman boozman and i appreciate the opportunity to continue some of this conversation. if i would, i mentioned in my opening statement i'm very interested in the incentive auction and the auction fund. chairman wheeler if you'd start. congress authorized the f.c.c. to conduct three different auctions in 2012. you're preparing for the third. the voluntary incentive auction. could you go in a little more detail why this is so much more complicate and how the aging i.t. infrastructure of the f.c.c. continues to operate with is in some ways a barrier to a successful auction and whether you expect to meet the goals of starting the auction making spectrum as badly needed ideally suited for broadband by early 2016 and how you'll ensure that broadcasters might be made whole while maximizing the spectrum auctions? chairman wheeler: a laundry list there kind of lays out exactly why this is a big undertaking. i keep calling it a rubic's cube because what we're doing i

a senator: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations: calendar number 115-122 and all nominations -- oh 122 and all nominations placed on the secretary's desk in the air force army, marine corps and navy. that the nominations be confirmed the motions to consider be -- to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, that no further motions be in order that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the record the president be immediately notified of the senate's actions and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. perdue: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the environment and public works committee be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 1690, the senate proceed to the consideration of it calendar number 64, s. 261 and calendar number 65, s. 612 en bloc. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. perdue: i further ask consent that the bills be read a third time and passed and that the motions to re

senator murphy and senator casey and senator warren and senator stabenow in speaking for amendments that really matter to t.p.a., to make a t.p. where there are literally almost with two dozen democratic senators i think at least eight or 10 republican senators i'm not sure of that number who have good, solid substantive amendments, why i want to see senator mcconnell, would want us to do what senator mcconnell talked about that is to have full hearing and airing of amendments that are substantive and there are a number of -- you know, dozens and dozens of substantive amendments offered by at least a couple dozen senators. i want to refer to one thing my colleague from ohio said earlier before senator stabenow's speech and that is about the level the playing field amendment we've been working on which is all about trade enforcement. i just jotted done one thing he said with i wanted to emphasize. he said by the time that our government is able to prove injury and to prove an unfair trade practice, the injury is already so great to our workers and our companies. and what -- he expand

the caucus -- senator warner, senator kaine, senator alexander senator hoban, senator rich, senator kaine who caucuses with the democrats. we bring a more common sense approach to governings and we don't get to meet as a group as much as we would like we gravitate toward each other for deals and common sense legislation. when we ran our states, basically most of us had -- 46 states have balance budget amendments. that means the first thing you want to know as governer and get elected they take you immediately and show you the revenue of the state and what you have to work with. you work on your budget for the coming year, and put things together, and every tuesday afternoon i would have the budget analysis and all of my budget people would come and meet with me and they would tell me what our forecast was, how our collections are going, how much we had to work with and -- or areas we had to changing and make adjustments. that was something always on our minds. can we pay for what we promised or what would like to do? you start picking priorities based on values. what is the value of the p

. >>> it's the countdown in the senate. hours left until key and controversial parts of the patriot act expire. we will talk to the congressman behind the house bill that the senate will consider today. >>> sad news today, as the son of vice president beau biden passes away. i am christi paul. >> i am victor blackwell. >>> it's coming down to the wire for the patriot act. >> if they don't reach an agreement, key parts of the patriot act expire at midnight. cnn national correspondent, sun land saw sraury joins us now. >> it doesn't look likely they will void a lapse, and they are at this hour not a clear way for this. when the senate comes back into session at 4:00 p.m., senator rand paul vowed to do all he can to stop the surveillance programs unless significant changes, he says, are made to weaken the government surveillance powers. he tweeted this out yet. quote, there has to be another way, we must find it together so tomorrow i will force the expiration of the nsa illegal spy program. senate majority leaders office says

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: thank you mr. president. i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: the senate is in a period of morning business. mr. casey: thank you mr. president. i rise to speak about one aspect of the budget debate that is before us, and it involves a major program that affects the lives of not just millions of americans but literally tens of millions. we have debates and discussions in this body all the time about our commitment to children, our commitment to older citizens and a whole range of folks that we're concerned about. all of us at one time or another have made pronouncements about how important it is to support children especially vulnerable children. we also are very concerned as our parents or older relatives reach a certain age that they get the quality care in the twilight of their lives that we would expect. they're helped through a range of programs or services services, obviously starting with medicare medicare so we're concerned

senator durbin: thank you very much. senator cochran: senator shelby from alabama. senator shelby: i congratulate you on your long career, your 41 years since you graduated. you served this nation with honor and dissension. thank you very much. -- honor and distinction. secretary carter, it is my understanding that the department of defense has recommended a legislative solution which would allow the use of as many as 18 rd, 19 80s force future space launch competitions. is that correct? general dempsey: yes. senator shelby: we hope there could be 2-3 years in ensuring access to space. have you looked at that, and do you agree or disagree with that? how can we ensure there is no gap because these programs are so important to national intelligence and other things. general dempsey: it absolutely is. secretary carter: we cannot afford to have a gap. just to scope out the issue as a whole, these engines that power some of our rocket boosters are manufactured in russia. we want to get off of that dependency on russia, but it takes some time to do so. in the meantime, we

carper, senator whitehouse and senator merkley about the frank r. lautenberg chemical safety act so i thought i would talk a little bit about what we're trying to do and where we're -- where we're headed. americans trust that when they go to the grocery store or when they are in their own homes that the products they reach for are safe. the current system fails that trust. it fails to provide confidence in our regulatory system and it fails to provide confidence in our consumer products. we cannot let that failure continue. i rise today to urge support for the frank r. lautenberg chemical safety act for the 21st century. it is the best chance we have possibly for many years to protect our kids from dangerous chemicals. the toxic substances control act of 1976, or tsca, is supposed to protect american families. it doesn't. there are over 84,000 known chemicals and hundreds of new ones every year. of all these chemicals, how many have been regulated by the e.p.a.? less than half a dozen. e.p.a. can't even regulate asbestos a known carcinogen, since lo

with senator wyden. they talked with chairman ryan consulted with president obama, with democrats, with republicans, the issues they had to work through were tough. difficult concessions had to be made. many believed an agreement wouldn't be merged. but at the end, a bill passed 20-6 through the committee. 20-6. it was a significant win for the people we represent. it rosswas a win for the americans that look to us to secure economic growth and good jobs for them and not give into the special interest of these who would rather see the jobs ends up in countries like china. it was a win for the security of our country and for our leadership around the world. secretary of defense was at lunch with republicans today talking about the importance to our repositioning to the pacific from a defense and foreign policy point of view to get tpt. he was accompanied by seven people of both parties said this: mistakes are clear and america's influence and leadership are on the line. so the ration for not voting yes to

durbin: to senator heller -- from senator durbin to senator heller to senator schumer goes across the political spectrum. mr. leahy: we're moving for a responsible path forward. we've worked for two years on this bill to end the n.s.a. bulk collection of americans' phone records. republicans and democrats have worked together for two years to end the n.s.a.'s bulk collection of americans' phone records something that every one of us at a town meeting, i don't care what state you're in, if you ask americans do you want a bulk collection of all your phone records, you know what the answer would be: of course not. clocks run out but there is a responsible choice before us. let's pass the u.s.a. freedom act today. then we have the improvements, we keep america secure and we don't have all our authorities expire. mr. president, i see other senators on the floor and i will yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana hell hell -- mr. tester: i rise today to honor a great montana journalist. i got to know chuck johnson 16 years ago when i was run

you have senator marco rubio senator rand paul obviously both running for 2016. scott walker, he has not been directly involved in this debate. this will give him an area to explain some of his national security strategies, and identify one way or the other with an approach that he would take if he were president. we will be watching him very closely. host: this headline from "the des moines register" -- walker ahead by seven point. ben carson, jeb bush, and huckabee follow in what is a tight republican pack. marco rubio is expected to rise. we would hear from him today in the senate. guest: it will be interesting with governor bush's ties. some people think they need to turn the page on him. scott walker will be there waiting for their endorsements. host: edward is joining us from liverpool, texas. good morning. caller: i just wanted to comment that people worry about people listening in on their conversations. this type of technology does not work in that fashion. it works in a fashion that i called you, so they know that i called you. if i'm talking about blow

senator shelby: senator kirk? senator kirk: [indiscernible] prosecutions. i understand that countrywide, we have -- assuming 5% of the united states, that means we would have had over 60 rico prosecutors and in our era -- our area. right now it is about zero, i want to encourage you to work with our u.s. attorney to make sure the rico prosecutions we have -- we can prosecute gangs of national significance. the issue of crime gangs, taking over our cities, rico is a statute we should go with. loretta lynch: i could not agree with you more on the efficacy of the rico statue -- senator kirk: let me add one thing. we have added money to combat these gangs. chicago has arrested about 344 people in relation to this effort. is that your understanding? loretta lynch: i do not have the numbers, i know it is active in the chicago area. senator kirk: thank you. loretta lynch: senator to follow , up on your previous point, i could not agree with you more on the efficacy of the rico statutes in targeting gang leadership. the importance of taking out the leadership of a

at the same time, in the senate, as you well know, the senate is divided over this bill and the majority leader would like to see the nsa collection preserved and extended for another 5.5 years. just in case that approach does not fly, he has got a proposal to reauthorize section 215 for 2 months while congress can debate on what to do. having seen this overwhelming vote in the house do you think that vote compels the majority leader to bring your bill to the floor? if he does, do you have the 60 votes needed to advance the bill? mike: i would very much like to see that usa freedom bill, the same one passed by the house of representatives by this overwhelming majority of a 338-88, i would like to see it brought to the floor and debated. if there are senators who have concerns with it, they can introduce amendments to try and make it better. i would like to see that be the point of discussion. the american people deserve to have this debated in the open and they deserve to have an open , robust debate one that will hopefully get us to a point where we are not collecting all of the telepho

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mrs. ernst: as we continue to fight against isis and those radicalized by them, i rise today to urge my colleagues to provide efforts to provide direct assistance to a crucial critical partner in that fight the kurdistan regional government. yesterday, i joined senator barbara boxer of california to do just that. we introduced bipartisan legislation to provide for the temporary authority for the president to provide weapons directly to iraqi kurdish pesmurda forces in the fight against isis. this legislation builds upon a similar bipartisan house effort led by house foreign affairs committee chairman ed royce and ranking member elliott engel. the bill's three-year authorization seeks to reduce delays in arming pesmurda forces to fight isis while still maintaining consultation with the iraqi government. beginning in the first gulf war the iraqi kurds and their peshmurga forces have played a vital role in supporting u.s. interests and a free iraq despite limited means of doing so. since augu

senate. the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. gracious god of all, we have heard glorious things about your goodness. let your glory be over all the earth. our hearts make melodies to you because of your exceeding greatness. thank you for your faithfulness that endures forever. today, give us steadfast hearts that we may honor you with our lives. be near to our senators, giving them a powerful awareness of your presence. lord increase in them such knowledge, love, and obedience that they may grow daily in your likeness. grant us wisdom and courage for the living of these challenging days as you surround us with your divine favor. we pray in your great name. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the pr

we have senator warner, senator caine, senator carper, senator alexander, senator shaheen, and we bring a common sense approach to government, and while we do not meet as a group as much as we'd like, we naturally gravitate to make deals and work on common sense legislation. when we ran our states basically, most of us had 46 states, i believe had a budget balance amounts, balance budget amendments. first thing you want to know as governor, you're elected, sworn in that day, they take you immediately and show you and what you have to work with. you have cowork with on the budget, and you work on the coming yeerks and you basically i said what's the revenue? every tuesday afternoon, i would have the budget analysis and they meet with me and tell me what our forecasts were and how collections were going and how much we had to work with or areas we had to change and make adjustments. that was cognizant on our mind. can we pay for what we promised or would like to do. you pick priorities based on values. what's the value of the people, my constituents in west virginia? i knew where we were.

as senator

senate. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain dr. barry black will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. free us from hindrances eternal lord, preserve us in our pilgrimage through this life. using us as your light to a dark world. free us from hindrances that keep us from accomplishing your purposes on earth. today, abide with our senators. give light to guide them faith to inspire them, courage to motivate them and compassion to unite them now and evermore. help them in the making of laws to execute justice and to set the captives free. protect them in their work and keep them from those things that lead to ruin. give them faith to see beyond today. to sow the seeds and cultivate the soil that will bring our nation a bountiful harvest. we pray in your holy name. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and jus

, and senator crapo and senator risch of idaho.heir efforts to working with the families of these american citizens that have been held too long in iran. i call upon the government of iran to do the right thing do trite thing mr. president and immediately release these citizens and send them home to their families and communities as soon as possible. the resolution has a statement of policy that is absolutely unobjectionable in any way. let me point out one last thing, if i might. as the ranking member of the senate congii -- potential committee i will continue to urge the united states government to use every tool at its dizz postal to obtain the release of these americans and i will continue to call on the iranian government to immediately and unconditionally release these men and send them home to their families. i'm very much pleased that we will soon be considering this resolution which unequivocally says that america should use all the tools at its disposal for the return of these americans. with that, mr. president, i will s

mark: thank you, senator. come back, it is the other major election we are tracking in the u.k. our special british correspondent john cleese joins us after this. ♪ mark: the british elections are coming up, so it is time for us to give you the most insightful analysis about what is happening in the political world across the pond. to do that, we are bringing in our politics british elections correspondant john cleese. he is also here to talk about his memoir, "so anyway." john, are you able to hear us across the atlantic? john cleese: yes, i can hear. mark: voters in the united kingdom are going to vote on may 7. how can it be that there are four nations within one country? john cleese: england and scotland joined together in 1707. in 1800, they were joined by ireland. then in 1922, we lost the southern ireland representatives and had only the representatives of northern ireland. so the united kingdom consists of scotland, wales, england, and northern ireland -- mark: the current prime minister is david camer

flake, senator durbin and senator ensy. the goal of the legislation is very simple. give u.s. telecommunications companies the opening and certainty they need to invest and hope cuba open to the world and and give the cubans the into tools they need to engage in a 21st century economy. share information and communicate more efficiently with each other and the world. secretary jacobson, both you and the president emphasized access to internet is a cornerstone to the new cuba policy. for those who have not been to cuba it's one of the least wired countries in the western hemisphere. things we take for granted, such as e-mail on phone, basically nonexistent in cuba. what are the major challenges cubans are facing to access the internet and what can u.s. companies and the congress do to open up cuba to the global internet? >> thank you, senator. thanks so much for your interest in this and the conversations we've had. i think obviously a huge part of the obstacles to the cuban people right now are sheer access to internet conne

senator mccain: senator cruise -- senator cruz. senator cruz: thank you for your service and your leadership. i would like to ask the panel first for your assessment of the current level of success we are seeing in the military campaign against isis. >> it is failing, senator. that's our assessment across the board that it is failing in iraq failing in syria and failing across the board in the region. senator cruz: why is it failing? >> in my view it was ill conceived to begin with, because it focused on iraq. it was badly underresourced and excessive restraints and constraints were put on the limited resources we were willing to deploy. senator cruz: could you please elaborate on the excessive constraints that have been placed on our military? dr. kagan: we have forces in theater that could have made a significant difference i believe in the fight for ramadi had they been allowed to embed at lower levels and had they been allowed to perform functions and bring in air support and have some of the rotary wing aviation that we have i

senator grassley: senator whitehouse. senator whitehouse: thank you for your work on immigration enforcement and express my regret we could not pass the bipartisan immigration reform bill through congress entirely that would have i think made your job a lot clearer and simpler and significant responsibility for the immigration mess that we're in now lies with congress, not with you and with congress for failing to pass the senate's bipartisan bill, which i was a strong supporter of. i would like to talk to you about cybersecurity. the majority leader has announced that he's going to try to have cyberweek here on the senate floor at some point. there's a lot of activity in the house. we have bipartisan bills that are pending on information sharing between federal agencies and the big communications providers. on agency public reporting of the cyberthreat to increase public awareness, of coordinating national notification when companies have data breaches. and updating some of the criminal penalties. when we first were work

our guest today is senator bob corker, chairman of the senate committee, and a member of the budget committee. his last visit was with our group was in january of last year. he is a south carolina native who graduated from the university of tennessee with a degree in industrial management. in 2006, he was elected to the us senate. as always, we are on the record here. please no live blogging or tweeting. corker: it's a pleasure to be with you. i do enjoy doing these kinds of things. i realize that it is a gift to serve in the senate and to wake up on a daily basis and deal with issues that matter. i have enjoyed very much dealing with senator menendez. we have a number of issues in the senate. we have had a good run as far as causing things to happen. i think, instead of me giving a lot of opening comments i would rather just take questions. cook: let me throw a one or two ceremonial softballs in the monitor tradition. what do you expect from tomorrow's meetings at camp david and how worrisome is it that some gulf state leaders did not show up or are not showing up? corker: behind the scenes

senator cotton: thank you again. senator collins: senator cotton thank you. i am glad you brought up the issue of rural broadband. that is an issue in my state as well. i was thinking about some of these sensors and other devices would simply not work in some parts in the state of maine. it is something we need to do more work on. i have a couple of other questions. i noticed you did do the cost comparison that all of us are interested in. you have talked about the cost of the set up. $2000 and then a monthly fee of $59. if my math is right, when you look over the two point five years, if you had nursing homes plus help, is over $300,000. i think this has important cost implications for us. one of the issues i think congress needs to work with the administration on is what is reimbursable for health care providers under the medicare-medicaid program. a lot of times, we will pay for the consequences of unchecked diabetes, but we won't pay for the ongoing prevention that prevents a person from having the complication. i can see many of you nodding. that is some

the full senate passed it with one dissenting vote and the senate will sign it. the first step is getting committees functioning. the next step is to open debate on the floor and allow senators to start offering amendments. the ability to offer amendments is one of the things that long made the senate, the senate. we had hardly been able to do so in recent years. it hurt, not just republicans, but democrats too. there is a democratic senator running for reelection in alaska next year. the end of his six-year term. he never had an opportunity to get a roll call vote on an amendment in his full term. his full term. i figured it was time to open things up. we had our first test of the new senate in consideration of the keystone pipeline. for some senators it was like an ice cream binge after a bad diet. they offered amendment after amendment after amendment. four other senators it was like an awkward first date. they had no idea what to do. they had never really had a chance to amend a bill before. i know that astonishes you, but this is the way it was. eventually w

so with that, senator marco rubio. [applause] senator rubio: thank you.it is an honor to be back at the council of foreign relations. i appreciate very much the opportunity to address you here today. i wanted to begin my remarks i by quoting from the closing of another set of remarks. from a speech i believe echoes across history due to its proximity to tragedy. but that stands more importantly, more powerfully, as a testament to the bipartisan tradition of strong american leadership. on the morning of november 22, 1963, president john f. kennedy spoke at a fort worth chamber of commerce event. he spoke on the need for a strong and active america. he ended with this. "i am confident, as i look to the future, that our chances for security and chances for peace are better than they have been in the past. the reason is because we are stronger. with that strength is the determination to not only maintain the peace, but also the vital interests of the united states. to that great cause, texas and the united states are committed." those are the final words of t

brown, senator burr, senator casey, senator shaheen, we have other senators that will be joining us as well. so we have growing support in understanding of how critical this is. the inclusion of strong and enforceable currency provisions in our trade agreements makes clear to our trading partners that this is -- that this uncompetitive trade practice will no longer be accepted. we're not going to talk about it. we talk a lot about it, we talk about this issue and the loss of american jobs because of currency manipulation. but by putting it in the core instructions for our negotiators as they walk into a trade negotiation, to have listed alongside critical provisions regarding labor laws and environment and intellectual property rights and human rights and other areas to say currency manipulation, your policies around currency we believe are critically important in a global economy if we're going to compete on a level playing field. and not continue to lose american jobs. someone to call this amendment a poison pill to the t.p.a. that could not be farther from the truth. and it's abs

in the senate.irector witmore: yes, robert byrd was the cicero senator, and he used ornate clauses and that is one of the distinctive things about him that worked on the floor. brian lamb: we have a clip of him on the senate floor talking about him using shakespeare. [video clip] senator byrd: oh that my tongue were in the thunder's mouth, then with a passion would i shake the world, one drop of blood, drawn from by country's -- thy country's bosom. aye, it is written having such a jewel, and these covering heavens fall like dew to inlay heaven with stars. as these, covering heavens call on the heads -- fall on the heads like dew. as we leave for the evening, give me my robe, put on my crown, i have immortal longings in me. brian lamb: what did you hear? director witmore: i heard a very theatrical senator. he picks passages that are so poetic and full of images, and he also moves around, you also notice he has his hand moving here, he is almost ready to move around, he almost sounds like an english

signed by 17 senators. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the reading of the snaims be dispensed -- names be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call with respect to the cloture motion on the hatch amendment number 1221 be waived. mr. reid: mr. president reserving the right to object. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. reid: no objection. the presiding officer: without objection, so moved. mr. mcconnell: mr. president i understand there is a bill at the desk that is due a second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. the clerk: h.r. 2353, an act to provide an extension of federal aid highway and so forth and for other purposes. mr. mcconnell: in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule 14, i would object to further proceeding. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the bill will be placed on the calendar. a senator: i suggest the abs

french -- senator church. this is one of a series of activities the brennan center has undertaken to recognize this anniversary. we published a report called "what is wrong with the pfizer court. they will be leading two panels this afternoon on judicial and executive branch oversight intelligence activities. we also published a report on strengthening congressional oversight, signed by 18 search committee staffers. they have nametags on, so feel free to talk to them throughout the day. it also contains a forward written by two church committee members. the senator from minnesota and then-vice president walter mondale, and senator gary hart of colorado. finally, the brennan center chief counsel, rich schwartz -- who was chief counsel of the church committee -- has written a new book called "democracy in the dark: the seduction of government secrecy." the purpose of today's symposium is to examine how the intelligence reforms studented as a result of the church committee investigation 40 years ago have fared an

the rules of the senate. mccain also told reporters paul's tactics are successful fundraising exercise for his presidential campaign. yet the senate's top democrat played republican leader mcconnell. >> the job of a leader is to have a plan. in this case it's clear that the majority leader simply didn't have a plan. we're not in the mess today because of a junior leader in kentucky. >> reporter: not surprising that harry reid would take a swipe at mitch mcconnell. but many warn rand paul this may be a dangerous move harris. >> they can shore up their side of the argument. part of the problem has been the bulk collection has not always proven to work. we saw they had a lot of metadata but they were not able to stop that. i'm curious to know is senator rand paul talking about this fight at all tonight? has anybody spoken to him? >> reporter: well yeah. the phone data is unconstitutional and paul is telling all who will listen that he thinks the authorities should be forced to get a warrant before they get a pot

senators. >> will there be questions for the record allowed? >> yes, we will leave the record open for two weeks you can submit questions for the record. >> very well. >> thank you very much. appreciate your patience when we had to leave. >>> on the next washington journal, debate on ways to reduce poverty in urban areas. later, colonel commander of the war fare group discusses training needed for u.s. troops in international urban combat zones. as always we welcome your thoughts by phone, facebook twitter. it airs live every morning 7:00 a.m. eastern on cspan. sunday on cspan q and a, kate anderson brour on the world of the white house through the eyes of people that work there from the kennedys through the obamas. >> who are the thicklands? >> they're an incredible family, nine members of the family worked at the white house. i interviewed james jeffries the only current part time butler who i did get to interview. he's still there, might be there now. he works every week at the white house.

senator sanders: thank you. [applause] ♪ >> we apologize for that, the video had some problems at the and of that speech. bernie sanders entering the democratic race. we are opening up our phone lines to hear your thoughts of what he brings to the presidential race. we do apologize about the video going in and out. here's how to join the conversation. you can also leave your comments at facebook.com/cpsspan. and can also send us a tweet. but let's hear from you, what does bernie sanders, the second into the democratic race have for you? caller: i am really into his devout this is what the republicans -- they should've gotten rid of holder a long time ago. they sold us out. i'm very upset. giving millions of dollars to foreign countries when we starving here. i wish my party would get it back home -- a backbone is stop cowering to special interests. host: bernie sanders coming onto the stage a little bit earlier than expected. we will show you the holes each a little bit later. caller: i am so fired up and excite

so with that, senator marco rubio. [applause] senator rubio: thank you.t is an honor to be back at the council of foreign relations. i appreciate very much the opportunity to address you here today. i wanted to begin my remarks by quoting from the closing of another set of remarks. from a speech i believe echoes across history due to its proximity to tragedy. but that stands more importantly, more powerfully, as a testament to the bipartisan tradition of strong american leadership. on the morning of november 22, 1963, president john f. kennedy spoke at a fort worth chamber of commerce event. he spoke on the need for a strong and active america. he ended with this. "i am confident, as i look to the future, that our chances for security and chances for peace are better than they have been in the past. the reason is because we are stronger. with that strength is the determination to not only maintain the peace, but also the vital interests of the united states. to that great cause, texas and the united states are committed." those are the final words of the

i want to thank senator boxer. senator box her a chance to hear from mr. costa that you invited to that hearing. i think that was an important point also. such acts of seeing latin american presidents meeting the u.s. president was unthinkable just six months ago. second, despite differences we may have with the government our foreign policy should always endeavor to support the country's people to the greatest degree possible. when president obama first came to office in 2009, he created greater flexibility for people to visit families if cuba and sent remitt enss to the islands. the early policy changes provided important support to the emerging entrepreneurs that have been able to launch new economic initiatives often working out of their own homes. the cuban government limits the activities widely and they're not all able to take advantage of them, u.s. policy is directly responsible for helping the cuban people improve living conditions and achieve new degree of independence from the cuban government. the december announcement went one step further an

a senator: mr. president? a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. ms. cantwell: mr. president i too, like the chairman of the finance committee have been here all day and i empathize with the dilemma that he faces along with the ranking member on how we move forward on this legislation. and this is a discussion that's been going on for months and months if not years which is what are we going to do as we deal with trade issues about the reauthorization of the export-import bank which expires at the end of june. so while i appreciate my colleagues on the finance committee and the movement of trade legislation i've had many discussions with them over the last several months about this very issue and the fact that this issue has to get resolved. now, i know that no member gets to have their way about what legislation gets an amendment. the list that was just given does nothing to guarantee we would ever see a vote on the authorization of the ex-im bank. while the other side wants to protect what they

senator coons: thank jerry moran you. senator boozman: senator moran. senator moran: mr. chairman, thank you. senator coons for having this year. when i was in the position as ranking member, it had been nine years since the fcc testified in front of this committee. chairman powell came that year and we had the fcc in front of us every year cents. -- since. i think it's one of the most important agencies this subcommittee has jurisdiction over. i thank you for conducting this hearing. i thank the chairman and the commissioner for joining us. can chairman compeel, over the last week i asked several people who come in contact in their business lives in the f.c.c. what questions they would like me to ask you. the ultimate suggestion was, whatever you do, ask for a yes or no answer. and i'm going to try to do that as often as i can. although now i'm the one using up my time. senator coons asked a question about the incentive auction. and what i heard you say is that you are confident that the auction will occur early in 2016. that is a yes. chairman wheeler: that is a yes. se

senator. >> no question about it poppy. this is the hallmark the centerpiece of his presidential campaign but this is fraught with political risk. never mind the actual substance of what's going on here, but the politics of this are very unconcern for rand paul. he's been making strides over the past months some inroads with the republican establishment. he's been trying to make the argument that he is prepared to serve, or would be prepared to serve as a commander, if he was elected, he would be prepared to serve in the white house. but when he's doing something like this on the patriot act, certainly many people agree with him, many libertarians agree with him, but most mainstream republicans do not. so many republican senators are furious at what he's doing now, not to mention the intelligence community and others. so i think that it is a potentially strong short-term positive for him, a boost for him. this will get him a lot of online supporters probably some fund-raising. he is fund-raising off of this. but the long-te