mr. manchin: i call up my amendment 3420. the clerk: the senator from west virginia, mr. manchin, proposes amendment numbered 3420 to amendment numbered 3378. mr. manchin: mr. president, i would like to explain the amendment having been read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. manchin: i rise today to urge my colleagues to vote in favor of my amendment 3420. it's to the comprehensive addiction and recovery act of 2015. as my colleagues know, our country is facing a prescription drug epidemic. every one of us in our states, all 50 of us, are having that problem, and it's a horrific problem. the cara act that we are about -- that we are working on and we're about to pass, it's a good start to addressing this crisis, which is why i'm a proud cosponsor of it. my amendment simply does what you would think common sense would already prevail. my amendment improves the bill by helping those on the front lines of this terrible epidemic provide their communities with the information they need to help stop the spread of opioid addiction and help people seek treatment. it w

mr. manchin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mr. manchin: do we have a quorum call set? the presiding officer: the senate is in a quoirk. mr. manchin: i'd like to vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. manchin: i'd like to rise today to discuss the presidential nominations, and i think most people in this body know that i'm probably one of the least partisan people looking at the issues, working across the aisle, always reaching out to my friends and colleagues on the other side of the aisle. i don't look at the barrier that a lot of people look at here. i know that we're able to debate and we're able to advice and consent on nominations because we just did it. you know, i have a tremendous problem in my state, and i think all of our states -- colorado, all over across the country on opioid addiction, drug abuse. and with that being said, i truly believe for us to fight this war, we've got to have a cultural change within the f.d.a. the president of the united states nominated dr. robert califf, a ve

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. politburo manchin: mr. president, are we in a quorum call? i ask to vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. manchin: i rise today to speak in support of the comprehensive addiction and recovery act of 2015, which is bipartisan, i might add, and to discuss several amendments that i have introduced. mr. president, our country is facing a prescription drug epidemic, and today is a good step towards addressing this crisis. this is a crisis that i have been dealing with since my days as governor of the great state of west virginia. opiate abuse is ravaging my state of west virginia, as with many other states. i know you have the same problems in utah, mr. president. our state has been hit harder than any other state in the country. drug overdose deaths have soared more than 700% since 1999. we lost 627 west virginians to opioids last year alone. 61,000 west virginians use prescription pain medication for nonmedical purposes in 2014. this includes 6,000 teenagers, but our state is n

mr. manchin: thank you. mr. president. very few people know what's actually happen ng your life. in order to get help, you have toen willing to openly talk about your issues and most of us fear being harshly judged and rightfully so. trying to treat people with addiction issues by using medication or therapy only is like trying to extinguish a raging house fire with a garden hose. she said, i was fortunate to have found medication-based treatment program in my area paid for by insurance. she's going to move forward and she wanted this story to be told. and she said that she wanted people to know how difficult it is. what we need to know is policy make -- as policymakers is how hard it is for people in our states that realize they need especial and can't find it. what i ask all of us to do, this cara bill is a step in the right direction. and it's a piece of legislation that's much needed and as we move forward today on this piece of legislation, i hope we will find basically the support that people are needing to fight this opiate addiction. thank you, mr. president. i yield th

mr. chairman. >> senator manchin on the half of the chairman. >> thank you all for being here and thank you for your service. i think general votel given we are reconsidering your nomination to succeed general austin as top commander it would be insightful to get your opinion on the current situation in iraq and syriana guess the question was simply be who is the greatest, who poses the greater threat to the region and to the united states, isis or iran? >> well i think right now senator my answer would be isis does because they are inspiring and there are x. orchestrating external attack that could impact our people so i think we have to take that extraordinarily seriously. that said as we have discussed here already despite the agreement that is then made we shouldn't, we should understand that iran is not ambiguous in their activities and their focus on the united states and certainly on our allies in the region so i think they do pose a long-term threat as well. .. >> it certainly adds a little bit of fuel to the problem. they were going to spend money at and buy weapons anyway. this gives them

mr. chairman, i'm going to defer to senator manchin because he has to leave so i will give my slot and if you will come back to me. after the next turn, i appreciate that. >> senator sheehan, thank you so much. thanks for being here. and let me just say either to secretary carter, general dunford or whatever, i'm concerned about the -- russia has recently announced withdrawal from the military forces from syria saying they fulfilled their mission. putin communicating with president obama on the russian military force withdrawal and the next steps required to fully implement a cease-fire with a goal of advancing political negotiations on a resolution of the conflict in syria. then i just have today -- i see where the syrian kurds plan to declare a federal region in northern syria territory. and i guess i would ask, do you anticipate a change in the u.s. military force role in syria? based on russia's military withdrawal? and also, is russia claiming success? and is their strength, their swagger political clout in that area? >> well, as i said before, russia came in wrong-headedly because t

mr. secretary. i want to begin my remarks by associating myself with the senator from west virginia senator manchin. he's not exaggerating here. you and i took the trip to alaska and we saw some of the same phenomena in alaska as the chairman said the $360 million state budget we are losing not just cold jobs. we are equipment providers and manufacturers. it's a very pessimistic desolate poverty being created that are very very difficult and i just want to associate myself with those remarks. my first question is about the energy labs and in the hearing last year we discussed some of the concerns that i have regarding the report on the national labs. my question is that your budget requests include a position including the d.o.e. lab commissions recommendation separating rst and its program responsibility or in transitioning nettle to a cocoa? >> we are not considering that. we are implementing most of the recommendations but not that one. secondly differently but related is the energy budget. i believe it's a good step forward to more clearly identify the r&d and infrastructure of budget lines at a

mr. secretary. i want to begin my remarks about associating myself with the senator from west virginia senator manchin. he's not exaggerating here. we are in a very -- and you and i took the trip to alaska and we saw the same phenomenon in alaska that the chairman said. we're losing not just coal jobs, transportation jobs. equipment providers, manufacturers. it's a very pessimistic, des low state new pockets of poverty being created that are very, very difficult. i just want to associate myself with those remarks. the first question is about the energy labs. in the hearing last year we discussed -- you and i discussed some of the concerns that i had regarding the crennel report on the national labs, which does your -- and so my question is, does your budget request include a position concerning the d.o.e. lab commission's recommendations pertaining to nettles, separating nettles r&d and its program responsibilities? or in transitioning nettle to a goco from a gogo? >> senator, no. we are not considering that. we are implementing most of the crennel recommendations, but not that one. secondly, a differ

if not, then the manchin amendment number 3420 is passed 90 affirmative, zero saying nay. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new mexico. a senator: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination, calendar number 365, that the senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on the nomination, that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from idaho. a senator: mr. president, i behalf of myself, senator rubio from the great state of florida, we both object. the presiding officer: the october is heard. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new mexico. a senator: mr. president, i would ask to be recognized in morning business for as much time as i macon assume. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: -- may # consume. the presiding officer: without objection. a senat