mrs. shaheen: thank you, mr. president. and thank you to my colleague from arizona. i'm pleased to be here on the floor because in a few minutes i'm going to be offering a motion to instruct the conferees for the ndaa to extend the afghan immigrant visa program and authorize additional visas for deserving applicants. for those who remember the debate we had on the floor during the ndaa, you will remember that we had come to an agreement. the opponents of this program had agreed with john mccain and me that we needed to keep the promises that we had made to so many of those afghan interpreters who made a life and death difference in helping our service men and women on the ground in afghanistan as they fought the taliban. this is a program that senator mccain and i have worked on for several years. we have been successful in previous years in getting this extension and keeping the word that we have the promise that we have made to those afghan interpreters and keeping the word of the american government that we are going to help those who helped us, and yet we go into

mrs. shaheen: thank you. c.e.i. lobbied politicians, conducted symposia and published policy papers and op-eds, with titles such as, and i quote, safety is a relative thing for cars, why not for cigarettes? c.e.i.'s then-policy analyst alexander volok even went so far as to describe the act of smoking as a civic duty. c.e.i.'s mission, as the documents detail -- the documents that we have just submitted for the record -- their mission was to portray the f.d.a. as an agency out of control and one failing to live up to its congressional mandate, and for a time, c.e.i. was successful. congress took a closer look at f.d.a.'s appropriations requests, and lawmakers slashed agency funding and passed language to restrict f.d.a.'s authority to regulate tobacco. in fact, at one oversight hearing, members of congress even questioned whether the f.d.a. was acting legally and responsibly in pursuing a course that would lead to tobacco regulation. well, if this sounds like deja vu, that's because it is. c.e.i. and other front gro

mr. roble robles. >> chairman vitter, ranking member shaheen and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. i'm a builder from the tampa bay, florida, market. my name is kevin robles. i'm here to discuss how drastic rate increases in flood insurance have affected the housing affordability and my company's ability to meet the housing needs of my communitily specifically address the flood insurance rate maps and their impact on the housing industry, most of which are small businesses. in 2012, the passage of the biggert-waters brought on dramatic rate increases that have impacted home sales, rates doubled and tripled and homeowners were stuck paying for policies they could not afford. homeowners and builders saw the unintended consequences of the legislation, specifically on the grandfathered or pre-firm properties. these rate increases took place when the housing market was still in recession. florida, my home state, was one of the hardest hit. housing prices in florida fell 44% outpacing the national decline of 10%. today's housing prices remain 22% below normal. any negat

mrs. shaheen: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mrs. shaheen: could i ask for a clarification? the vote we are having is not on a particular piece of legislation, is that correct? this is a motion to instruct the conferees, so it does not deal with the particular piece of legislation that senator sessions has suggested. the presiding officer: that is correct. the vote before the senate is on the senator's motion to instruct the managers on this matter. mr. sessions: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. all time is expired. the question is on the motion. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. there is. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presidinthe presiding office there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or wishing to change their vote? seeing none, the yeas are 84. the nays are 12. the motion to instruct is agreed to. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. sullivan: madam president, i have a motion to instruct at the desk and i ask for it