so i thank isakson and casey. i hope by the end of the day we've accepted senator sanders' motion to extend the program until the end of the year. but what i really hope is that when we come back in november, that we will have an agreement as we're perfectly capable of doing in our committee, that begins to move treatments and drugs through the f.d.a. more rapidly so they can get into the medicine cabinets and the doctors offices of this country at a lower cost and more quickly, and that we will have several billion more dollars of funding for the national institutes of health, that we will focus on the president's precision medicine initiative with some of that money on the vice president's cancer moon shot with some of that money, on the brain initiative with some of that money, and that we will give each other a little bit of a pat on the back for this past year, raising $20 billion over the next ten years for more money for n.i.h. and putting in the appropriations bill so far this year another 20. so i look fo

isakson: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that i be recognized and following my remarks senator casey from pennsylvania be recognized sphold by senator sanders -- followed by senator sanderses ss from followed by senator warren from massachusetts followed by senator alexander from tennessee. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. isakson: mr. president, this is somewhat of an unorthodox way of asking for a u.c., but we're going to go through a process here this afternoon talking about a bill called the pediatric rare disease priority review act which expires on september 30 of this year. all of us of the names i just mentioned have a stake in this particular debate. and i am going to lead it off. then i am going to defer to my friend and coauthor of this legislation, mr. casey, for the purposes of the u.c. legislation and then we'll go from there. mr. president, i fell in love with my wife in 1968, married her 48 years ago, and we've had a great marriage, but in 20

and i know senator isakson, the chairman, we're joined by senator carper on the floor, too. he's interested in this. i know senator tillis has cosponsored my bill actually to fix this. it is something we need to do. we're here today -- we're not the only ones who believe action needs to be taken. governor mike pence, the governor of the state next door to mine, indiana, the republican nominee for vice president, supports this. the closure of i.t.t. was the fault of the management of that school who -- who spent a lot of money on marketing and a lot of money on helping people -- students get financing, but not much money on education and even less on job placement for their -- for their students. the closure of i.t.t. was not the fault of the veterans, for sure, not the fault of the students, but now veterans are worried about being able to pay their rent and pursue their education, which is what this legislation is going to allow them to do. 520 veterans in my state of ohio have been -- have had -- have been impacted by i.t.t.'s closure. there are some questions of finding a

thank you very much. >> chairman isakson and members of the committee, ranking member blumenthal, it's a pleasure for me to be here with you today to address the work of the commission on care. it's a particular pleasure because for five years i sat where tom bowman is sitting behind you as staff director of the committee under senator alan k. simpson. in my personal experience the vast majority of va staff at all levels are professional and highly committed to the veterans they serve. like many of us i was concerned to learn of the issues that came to light regarding the manipulation of wait times for appointments at the phoenix va medical center. i'm happy to have been a part of the effort to better understand what had gone awry and to find solution no those problems for today and into the future. service on the commission has been an interesting experience. the commissioners brought their very back grountds to this venture with one characteristic in common. all of us were committed to assuring that this country's commitment to its veterans was well met. we may have differed on just

isakson: mr. president, we're reaching that time of year where some of our colleagues will retire, some may be retired without wanting to be retired and we'll have new colleagues come into the senate and house next year. i want to pause for a moment and pay tribute to a great georgian who will be retiring at the end of december who served our state for six terms in the united states house of representatives mr. lynn westmoreland. he's a true entrepreneur, a native georgian, a dedicated fire, outstanding businessman, and an unquestionable leader in the united states house of representatives. as the ranking member of the intelligence committee in the house, he's been instrumental since 9/11 seeing to it we remain safe and we have the information we need to make the decisions we need to make to keep america safe. i go back to lin westmoreland a long time. "was in the brokerage business for 43 years, dealt with brokers all the time. one was lin. he found his own construction company called law constru

arizona or georgia or missouri where the republican incumbent senators are john mccain and johnny isakson and roy blount. those are all veteran senators up for re-election in those usually red states. if hillary clinton has a great night on october 8th, they could be on the hot seat even in states like that. the problem for democrats, is it doesn't necessarily look like hillary clinton is going to have a great night on october 8th. we don't know. we're still, seven weeks out, who is counting? but the polls are basically sort of tied up in the presidential race. if the polls continue to stay this close or if donald trump pulls out ahead, there mayot be clinton coattails for all these democratic senator candidates to grab on to. there's this other factor which ought to get a lot more attention than it's getting this year. and that's money. a lot of republican big donors and these gigantic pacs, a lot of those folks don't want to spend their money on donald trump this year regardless of how he's doing in the polls for the presidential race. yes, most republicans are on board with donald trum

thank you very much. >> chairman isakson and members of the committee, ranking member blumenthal, it's a pleasure for me to be here with you today to address the work of the commission on care. it's a particular pleasure because for five years i sat where tom bowman is sitting behind you as staff director of the committee under senator alan k. simpson. in my personal experience the vast majority of va staff at all levels are professional and highly committed to the veterans they serve. like many of us i was concerned to learn of the issues that came to light regarding the manipulation of wait times for appointments at the phoenix va medical center. i'm happy to have been a part of the effort to better understand what had gonna rye and to find solution no those problems for today and into the future. service on the commission has been an interesting experience. the commissioners brought their very back grountds to this venture with one characteristic in common. all of us were committed to assuring that this country's commitment to its veterans was well met. we may have differed on just

arizona or georgia or missouri where the republican incumbent senators are john mccain and johnny isakson and roy blount. those are all veteran senators up for re-election in those usually red states. if hillary clinton has a great night on october 8th, they could be on the hot seat even in states like that. the problem for democrats, is it doesn't necessarily look like hillary clinton is going to have a great night on october 8th. we don't know. we're still, seven weeks out, who is counting? but the polls are basically sort of tied up in the presidential race. if the polls continue to stay this close or if donald trump pulls out ahead, there may not be clinton coattails for all these democratic senator candidates to grab on to. there's this other factor which ought to get a lot more attention than it's getting this year. and that's money. a lot of republican big donors and these gigantic pacs, a lot of those folks don't want to spend their money on donald trump this year regardless of how he's doing in the polls for the presidential race. yes, most republicans are on board with donald tr

isakson 05075, 5063, 5076, paul 5068, cardin 5069, hoeven 5074, as modified, tester 5077, and sasse5066, as modified. the presiding officer: without objection. is there objection? there is no objection. the clerk will report the amendments. by number en bloc. the clerk: mr. inhofe, proposes amendments en bloc numbered 5075, 5036, as modified, 5076, 5068, 5069, 5074, as modified, 5077, 5066, as modified to amendment number 4979. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the amendment are agreed to. under the previous order, all postcloture time has expired. the clerk will read the tile for third time. the clerk: calendar number 523, s. 2848, a bill to froir the conservation and development of water and related resources and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: question occurs on senate bill 2848 as amended. the clerk will call the roll. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote:

. >> georgia senator johnny isakson issued a republican response, but the usual video version is not available. in his printed date but he said, -- the smithsonian's national museum of american history is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the september 11 attack with a special one-day exhibit tomorrow. the museum will display more than 35 objects from the three sites -- new york, the pentagon, and shanksville, pennsylvania. here's a look. >> we're talking with the curator for the national september 11 connection -- collection. thanks for talking with us. what are we looking at? >> we're looking at the september 11 collection here. the collection represents all .hree of the attack sites we have here shanksville, pennsylvania, and in the middle, on the the pentagon, and far right, we have the world trade center. >> how did you get these pieces? >> we sent curators to each of the attack sites soon after the attacks occurred. the curators spent their time looking at three specific collecting focal points. looked at the attacks themselves, the recovery effort, and the first responders

the stop terrorist operational resources and money act, so-called storm act, with senator johnny isakson. and this is but a first step. this bill provides a strong set of tools to compel greater cooperation from partner nations. the storm act authorizes a new designation by the president called -- and i'm quoting -- "jurisdiction of terrorism financing concern." which can be triggered either by a lack of political will by a country or lack of capacity to take on this problem. some countries have the capacity to make meaningful progress but lack the political will to do so. i believe we should levy tough penalties that make countries reconsider their either willful ignorance or tacit acceptance of terrorist financiers carrying their country's passports or operating in their territory. the penalties under the storm act include suspension of security or development assistance, blocking of arms sales and blocking loans from the i.m.f. or the world bank. with some countries that challenge is a basic lack of capacity. the united states is well equipped to provide technical assistance and capac

johnny isakson and big blumenthal and our committee have put together an omnibus bill called the veterans first act. both sides of the aisle held a press conference to praise each other for bringing it out. we cannot get it to the floor to get it voted on. it's time to not have veterans be political pawns. it's time for veterans -- for us -- rather than just thanking them for their service, let's do something and look back on 2016 as the year that we really turned the corner for veterans. host: our first call is from mike from minnesota. he is retired. you are on with v.a. secretary robert mcdonald. caller: good morning, gentlemen. i'm actually going to the v.a. today. one of the worst things we could possibly do is privatize the v.a. system. several surgeries and i prefer the health care i get there. i would rather use the minneapolis v.a. rather than the mayo clinic. they do an excellent job. i would hate to see it privatized. guest: thank you for your comments. whenever someone approaches me and say they like us to privatize the v.a., i ask than three questions. are you a veteran? gene

senator isakson of georgia spoke on the floor a few weeks ago about a phone call i got from the pastor of johnson ferry baptist church in marietta, one of the largest baptist churches in georgia. that church provides day care and early childhood development and sports activities and vacation bible schools. a 24/7 program for underprivileged kids in the atlanta area. under the overtime rule, this proposed rule we're talking about that goes into effect in december, a camp counselor for their vacation bible school will have to be paid overtime for many hours of the day when they're with the children, even if the children are sleeping. so this rule could price the johnson ferry baptist church out of the business of providing bible school, church camp for underprivileged children. so fewer cleft palate operations, less scouting opportunity, fewer church camp opportunities for underprivileged children. hourly workers in this country are usually paid for overtime, but salary workers generally don't earn overtime unless they're making plow a so-called threshold set by the labor department and

isakson: mr. president, christmas eve 2009 the floor of this senate, i and the other 99 members of the senate voted on what's known as the affordable care act and became later known as obamacare. it's been seven years since that debate and a lot has happened. when it passed on the floor of the senate and house, i voted against it because i would fear it would limit access, cost more and limit choice. it was sold as doing the opposite. it was sold as costing less, expanding choice, and expanding access. but factors stubborn things. it's now time for us to look at obamacare and affordable care act, realize what it's done to us and realize time is running out for us to correct the imperfection of that legislation. on choice remember the president said if you like your policy, you can keep it. because of what we're doing there will be more access for those who don't have a policy. those who hd policies and liked it didn't get to keep it. a lot of the coverage went away or became limited. cost will be

. >> so benjamin franklin, for instance, in walter isakson's biography is really in this kind of genius he donist and -- here donist, and not all the founders were absolute saints. what's been the turn in virtue in america that has been kind of walked away from? >> i don't think it's very easy to pip point it. pip point it. i think roughly speaking it started in the 'of 0s, basically -- '60s, basically, but it's a trickle down from the '20s and '30s. elite schools like yale already turned the corner in the '30s, basically. and europe turned this corner as a result of world war i, that they had seen the twin authorities of church and state basically let them down and, you know, they had lost lives, and they really turned against those authorities in a way. and i think that the same kind of thing happened, it was like a loss of confidence in authority to begin with and a kind of cynicism or a nihilism or something. but i really don't think it reached us until the '60s and the '70s where it really became codified, it became part of, you know, the way we function. and so it's nothing you ca

to the senate's credit, johnny isakson and dick blumenthal and our committee put together an omnibus bill called the veterans first act. went out of our committee unanimously. both sides held a press conference to praise each other for bringing it out. we can't get it to the floor to get voted on. it is time to not have veterans be political pawns. time for veterans to, for us to stay -- rather than saying thank you for our service, let's do something that allows us to transform the va and look back on 2016 as the year that we really turn the corner for veterans. >> what about these issues he's brought to the table and the law that he wants passed. >> he has the ability to do those things now. there is not any reason why you have this -- we put resources after resources and, look, i have a good friend of mine who died last year and i've been sort of working on his claim. he's -- his daughter had information sent to department of va that didn't even exist for three months. and it was shut down. it is a matter. it is about management and,ability. don't need another law. you need a mana

biography >> benjamin franklin and walter isakson's biography is really this genius hedonists and not all of the founders were absolute saints. what do you really see -- what has been a turning virtue in america that has been kind of walked away from? >> i don't think it's very easy to pinpoint. roughly speaking it started in the 60s basically.'s the trickle-down from the 20s and 30s. elite schools like io already turned this corner in the 30s basically.ner in the '30s, and europe turns this corner as a result of world war i that they had seen katrina curtis church and state basically let them down and they have lost lives and they really turned against those authorities and away. the same kind of thing happened with a lot of confidence in authority to begin my favorite kind of a cynicism or nihilism, but i really don't think it reached us until the 60s and the 70s where it really became codified. it became part of the way we and so i function. and so that's not something you can your finger on. you do see that the media typically tend to be uncomfortably secular. even though they are

senator isakson warned that the numbers do not lie in georgia. obamacare, he said, is forcing insurance carriers to leave the market, eliminating competition and choice, all while placing the burden of higher costs on the backs of working taxpayers in this country. and senator mccain explained how americans have been hit by broken promise after broken promise and met with higher costs, fewer choices and poorer quality of care. noting that his home state of arizona had become ground zero for the collapse of obamacare. just last month, the obama administration told americans not to worry about rising costs because they could shop around to find the best plan and save money on health insurance. but many americans in places like ohio are going to be severely restricted when it comes to choosing an insurer next year, as the state's director of insurance pointed out. in fact, 19 of ohio's counties are set to have just a single insurer in the exchange and another 28 counties will have only two options. restrictions like these mean families could lose ac

the party is sending a letter monday to committee had senator johnny isakson and barbara boxer. requesting that the committee look into whether the payment violated federal election law. the committee should immediately investigate the apparent violations, specifically the committee should demand that senator johnson disclosed the deferred compensation agreement. senator johnson must be held accountable or his $10 million corporate payout. more out of the hill.com. coming up at 1 p.m. today's white house briefing with press secretary josh earnest. we will have live coverage when it starts and leading up to that, a portion of today's "washington journal" look at the latino vote in the novemberst: elections. >> concerns of latino voters and campaign 2016, two guests join us for this conversation we're joined by clarissa martinez de castro with the national councie of la raza, deputy vice president also joined by ivan garcia-hidalgo who serves as the chairman. good morning to both. >> host: this culture, subculture of lectures and hispanics independent, what you most concerned abou

this amendment that we introduced mirrored legislation introduced by our colleagues, senator johnny isakson and senator richard blumen that will. they have elved -- blumenthal. they have developed the veterans first act which will be a critical step to achieving true accountability that the v.a. so desperately needs to be an efficient agency for the men and women who serve this nation. it has more than 44 co-sponsors, including senator boozman, senator blunt, senator rounds, senator daines, all those that supported language that we merely requested to be in the bill to improve accountability at the v.a. that is sorely needed while also protecting -- and we've heard this a lot from our colleagues on the other side, due process. the due process of the whistleblower, the due process of people who are employed in the federal government. we have a bipartisan supported bill in the senate that will take a much-needed step for comprehensive due process and accountability within the v.a.. this is what the american people despies. here we are in total agreement on what -- this is what the american pe

and we have a bill under the leadership of dick blumenthal and johnny isakson that takes care of our veterans, it helps fix the veterans problems in this country. it helps fix leadership vacancies, helps fix the shortage of doctors, helps veterans get access to the v.a. passed out of committee unanimously. it's called the veterans first act. it passed out of committee last may, 125 days ago. the senate won't take the bill up. it is a step in the right direction to take care of our veterans, yet we won't take it up because we've got to go home. claire showed you the map. you would think congress could do their job on behalf of veterans, but they're wrong. and then we have the supreme court. you know, the constitution which people cite in this body a lot and should is very clear that the senate has a duty to advise and consent to the president's supreme court nominees. i just heard the republican leader the other day say there will be no supreme court nominee taken up this year. that's great. now the supreme court is as dysfunctional as congress. and we see it with the decisions that c

johnny isakson and big blumenthal and our committee have put together an omnibus bill called the veteransirst act. both sides of the aisle held a press conference to praise each other for bringing it out. we cannot get it to the floor to get it voted on. it's time to not have veterans be political pawns. it's time for veterans -- for us -- rather than just thanking them for their service, let's do something and look back on 2016 as the year that we really turned the corner for veterans. host: our first call is from mike from minnesota. he is retired. you are on with v.a. secretary robert mcdonald. caller: good morning, gentlemen. i'm actually going to the v.a. today. one of the worst things we could possibly do is privatize the v.a. system. several surgeries and i prefer the health care i get there. i would rather use the minneapolis v.a. rather than the mayo clinic. they do an excellent job. i would hate to see it privatized. guest: thank you for your comments. whenever someone approaches me and say they like us to privatize the v.a., i ask than three questions. are you a veteran? genera

chairman isakson, ranking member of blumenthal, members of the committee, thank you for this time tose had lobbied the same opportunity last week but neither i nor the veteran service or decisions were invited to testify in person. i asked my written statement be submitted for the record. >> without objection. >> first let me thank ms. schlichting for chairing the commission. i know it wasn't easy but nancy did an outstanding job in keeping things together. over all i see the commission's report as validation of the course we've been on for the past two years. there's hardly anything report we have not already thought of or are not already as part of our own test ongoing efforts. we differ on the details but we wholeheartedly agree with the intent of almost all the commission's recommendations. 15 out of 18. we certainly agree on how wrong it would be to privatize the health care. privatization would be a boon for some health care corporations, but at seven leaders told the commission acted threaten the financial and clinical viability of some va medical programs and facilities which

isakson: i'm hon soared to join him on this important day. this morning when i woke up preparing for a speech i made at the university at 11:00 this morning on constitution day, it reminded me of what an important day today is in september. senator robert byrd, a distinguished democrat and majority leader and president protempe of the senate, served many decades, amended an appropriations in 2004 to create the day as constitution day. it's a great honor for me to speak on the floor to honor our veterans on the day we honor the constitution. without our veteran there is would be no constitution. without them those who fight and defend our liberty and freedom around the world, there would be no constitution. so it's a great day to do n. i want to share exactly what senator blumenthal said. this is a mere downpayment. it's an acknowledgment there's lots of work to be done. critically this extender bill addresses any number of programs in the v.a. that will expire the end of the fiscal year unless they're extended. most importantly homeless progr