mr. collins, and the gentleman from new york, mr. jeffries. they worked tirelessly to get this bill to the floor and both should be applauded for their bipartisan approach to this issue. i urge my colleagues to support the first step act and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. nadler: mr. speaker, i yield myself four minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. nadler: mr. speaker, i rise in opposition to h.r. 5682, the first step act. on principle i cannot support legislation which fails to address the larger issues of sentencing reform, and the -- this makes modest improvements, it actually does more harm by cementing into our system new areas of racial biases and disadvantage that make worse a criminal justice system desperately in need of reform. despite the bill's good intentions, the new incentive system for pre-release custody credits could exacerbate racial biases and unlike previous criminal justi

mrs. collins, mr. garfield, mr. waynes, ms. collins, again, mr. reed, our principal, mr. jones. like so many teachers across our country, these educators dedicated their careers to helping generations of students learn and grow. teachers today provide us with the tools we need to achieve our goals and to be successful because they understand dedicating their lives to this profession educates the future of america, our nation. it creates the foundation that lies ahead that ultimately creates the opportunities that we as americans pursue. so i'd like to take this opportunity to thank the teachers in the san joaquin valley and across the nation. throughout the united states for all that they do. those first nine teachers who taught me, they saw something in me and thousands of students who they have taught and, you know what, they made a difference. they made a difference in thousands of lives as teachers across the country do every day. so we should. it is fitting and appropriate to honor the teachers of our nation. mr. speaker, i also rise today to commemorate military appreciati

mrs. collins. the senator from california, senator feinstein. >> mr. chairman, i wanted to ask you one question on the larry nassar case. last year the senate judiciary committee held a hearing on abuse within olympic sports. two survivors testified about being abused by dr. nassar. he's taken care of. what is troubling to me is last week a gold medal olympian came in and spoke to the chairman of the judiciary committee hand myself to say that she reported abuse to a specific local office, which i'll give you privately, that she had suffered abuse and nothing was done about it. she tried for a year with the fbi and that office and then gave up. so the question i have is what has the -- has the fbi been instructed to take these complaints seriously? and promptly respond to women making them? because i'm really concerned about it. these are all young women. and they deserve an investigation. >> senator, i share your concern. i think my heart goes out to the victims of dr. nassar. as i think i might have mentioned earlier in the hearing, i have immediatel

shrugging it off at the moment was is the power point presentation that unfolded yesterday mr netanyahu who's collin powell moment that moment a former secretary of state that is notorious and widely discredited presentation to the u.n. in the run up to the second iraq war. well there isn't and you know didn't really call for a military invasion of iran but the danger here is that this approach to to kill them clear or at least to to bring to bring it at risk to slee can lead to have two or three other escalation in what we're already seeing in syria so that you cut off any form of diplomatic channels you basically destroy a molten actually written agreement that has to do with nonproliferation this can lead up to war and the analogy i think is a fair one but we also have to see the differences they are quite distinct there seems to be growing rivalry between israel and iran how high are tensions there is there a threat of imminent conflict or is this all rhetoric well i think obviously we already seen some form of actual confrontation in the syrian theater and it can escalate further there is alway

senator reed. >> well, thank you, chairman collins. and mr. batory, we noted that the notice of funding opportunity for the entirety of the chrissy funds for 2017 and 2018, was completed ready to go out the door. but then yesterday, we were a bit disappointed when we just found out that the $215 million for ptc was announced. why is that? >> well, during -- let me segregate it, senator reed, this way. there was 68 million that was announced during first quarter of this year, which is fy17 which will be coming due for consideration and awarding next month. and then as of this week, we issued the $250 million that was carved out of the total chrissy, that was ptc specific. and rather than follow the traditional, 90-day application period, we reduced it to 45 because time of the essence and there has to be a sense of urgency. so, in addition to that we have already embarked with the short line so, regional railroad and short lines, as well as that of apta, where we have asked them to host webinars with their entire memberships. now webinars are n

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that proceedings under the call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. collins: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise today in support of legislation that i've introduced with several of my colleagues, senators mccaskill, barrasso, stabenow, and cassidy that would remove a barrier that prevents patients from getting the most affordable prescription drug prices at the pharmacy counter. mr. president, americans have the right to know which payment method -- whether it's using your insurance or paying with cash out of pocket -- would provide the most savings when they are purchasing prescription drugs. the two bills that we've introduced would establish some clarity in this incredibly opaque drug pricing system. nearly 60% of americans, including roughly 90% of seniors, take at least one prescription drug. in 2016, americans spent more than $330 billion, including a staggering $45 billion out of pocket, on retail presc

mr. administrator. senator collins has gone to the floor for the vote and when she returns, i'll go to the floor for my vote. mr. gardner, your testimony, please. >> thank you, ranking member reed and my fellow witnesses. appreciate the opportunity to be here this afternoon and for the subcommittee setting aside time to focus on railroad safety. my name is steven gardner, amtrak's executive vice president and chief executive officer. it's my pleasure to be here on behalf of the 20,000 dedicated amtrak employees across our network. as a subcommittee knows this, has been a challenging fiscal year for amtrak as we faced a series of tragic accidents, including the two accidents you mentioned in your opening statement. these incidents have weighed heavily on all of us at amtrak and had a advised concerns expersonally and internally about the safety at the company and passenger safety in general. i'm here to share but we ear tackling these concerns directly. while amtrak had already begun to implement a number of strategies

collins. >> thank you, mr. chairman. according to the maine hospital association, 25g mai maine hosp quch for the 340b drug discount program and receive an estimated benefit estimated to be $10 million a year. 14 of those 25 hospitals already have negative operating margins. for some of the other 340b hospitals with positive operating margins, the value of the program represents the difference between a positive operating margin and a negative one. at the same time, part of what is driving the narrow hospital margins and losses in maine is the growth in pharmaceutical spending, maine hospitals have experienced a 30% increase in drug spending over the past four years. i wanted to give you that background because the hospital association in maine has told me that if we were to limit or eliminate the 340b benefit, it would wipe out the positive operating margins for those hospitals that actually are in the black. ms. maxwell you testified about the lack of transparency to insure that the 340b providers are not overpaying ph

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator murray. were here to welcome doctor collins and the institute directors that are here with him today. the new director of the national cancer institute is here for his first appearance before the committee and we are glad you are part of this team and look forward to the chance to visit with all of you later. doctor collins, glad to have your testimony right now. >> it's an honor to be here, mr. chairman. also with me at the table, the director of the national institute on drug abuse any mention our movie doctor toomer right. over at the far end someone you know well who has had his 439th hearing or something like that, doctor anthony, director of the national institute of infectious diseases. i just want to say to all of you, chairman blunt, ranking member murray and all of you friends who have gone above and beyond in your support of nih research and for those who it brings healing and hope. on behalf of them, i'm immensely grateful for your consistent support in the words you have just spoken. it gives me a great sense of co

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator murray. glad, again, to welcome dr. francis collins, the director of the national institutes of health and the institute directors that are here with him today. i think the new director -- [audio difficulty] ned sharpless is here for his first appearance before the committee, and we're glad you're part of this team and look forward to the chance to visit with all of you later. but, dr. collins, glad to have your testimony right now. >> well, it's an honor to be here, mr. chairman. also with me here at the table, dr. nora -- [inaudible] at my left, your right, the director of the national institute on drug abuse. you mentioned dr. sharpless, our newbie -- [laughter] to my right. the director of the national institute for neurological diseases and stroke, next to him dr. richard hotus and over at the far end somebody you know pretty well who's in his 439th hearing or something like that, dr.ing anthony fauci, who is the director of the national institute of allergy and infectious disease. i just want to say to all of you, chairman blunt,

mr. borland. >> thank you. chairman collins, ranking member casey and members of the special committee. i am jim borland, acting deputy commissioner for communications with the social security administration. thank you for inviting me to discuss how we provide information to help workers and their family members decide when to claim social security retirement benefit and went to enroll in medicare. these decisions are important and we are mindful of our responsibility to provide information to help her claimants make informed choices. we believe that workers need to be thinking about their claiming decisions before they arrived at the field office. this is why our outreach and education efforts are crucial. the decisions workers make about starting retirement benefit are very important as they will effect payment amounts for the rest of their lives. for this reason, even before the individuals apply for social security benefits or enroll in medicare, we provide objective information that they may use to plan for retirement. we do this in a variety of ways including our website publicati

mr. rodriguez who sat right across the hall from me had released the cable. >> i'm over my time. i'll ask more about this in classified session. thank you. >> senator collins. >> thank you, mr. chairman. senator jack reed and i co-sponsored the mccain/feinstein bill that banned waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques because we viewed hem as contrary to american values and tantamount to torture. so let me ask you a series of questions. first, were you involved in any way in the creation of the enhanced interrogation program? >> senator, i was not, and i was not read into the program until about a year into its existence. >> were you a senior manager at the cia at the time that the program was created? >> no. i had just returned from an overseas posting. i was a gs 15. i was not yet a member of the senior executive service. i was assigned as a deputy group chief. that's pretty far down the tote m poll in a program that had nothing -- pole that had nothing to do with the interrogation program. >> you said the program had already been in effect for some time before you were read into it. what was your reaction when you learned of the program

mr. chairman. >> thanks senator collins. senator cane. >> i'm glad we're having this hearing. i look forward to the hearing with hrsa as well. thanks to the witnesses for being hear. miss maxwell, first for you, i want to talk about one of my critical health care providers, virginia commonwealth university. the largest hospital in virginia. an urban disproportionate shared teaching hospital. and it's representative of the hospitals that could be hurt most by cuts to reimbursements for drugs. savings have allowed these units to innovate. they created a managed care program for the uninsured or vc state. the program shot in insurance coverage but it's a partnership between bcu and health dare providers to treat qualified uninsured individuals. when congress passed the program. it explained it wanted to stretch resources further and provide more comprehensive services as dr. draper read. statements by the oag and reports were a factor in the nearly 30% cut to payments to the 340b hospital that went into effect in january. i'm looking at one of the reports that the oig has done. w

mr. chairman. >> you're welcome. the senator from maine, senator collin. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and welcome secretary ross. i want to begin associating myself with the comments made by the chairman and ranking member expressing authorization for elimination of funding for the economic development administration, the plaintiff ever extension partnership and those, now, i would like to turn to two different issues. earlier this year on certain types of paper from the u.s. printing, this paip i'm goating, better known as news print. is us the. harr patients. >>> in our country. >> they were going to trade in floors moment i you will of the, exposes -- it. they can't afford the higher cost of news print. it's a real problem in my state because they're no longer -- or are there any miles producing news print in the state of maine. canada is the closest as well as the most affordable sorts, or was until these tariffs were proposed. there was one small mill that brought this petition and it may well be able to add jobs but it will do so to an enormous task. the anti dutching and trade remedies are really not equi

mrs. hill, welcome. >> thank you, chairman collins, ranking member casey and members of the committee. thank you so much for this opportunity to testify today, it's a real honor to be here. my name is sharon hill, i'm 63 years old and a resident of vanderbilt, pennsylvania. i have two sons and seven grandchildre grandchildren. my youngest grandchild logan was born tuesday. my granddaughter august has joined me here today. she's a volunteer with me at many senior centers i go to. i am a volunteer with the pennsylvania apprise program. nationally apprise is known as the state health insurance assistance program, ship. i also work cleaning my church and i care for my 89-year-old father and help care for my 92-year-old neighbor who is blind. i have a disability myself and rely on the support of state and federal programs to remain active and engaged in my communit community. >> i initially saw an add in our local senior times newspaper asking for volunteers to help people with medicare issues. at that time i was on medicare due to a disability and had recently been left with $67,000 in med

mr. chairman. >> thank you very much. senator from maine, senator collins. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and let me first congratulate you. and i very much look forward to working with you and the ranking member. mr. attorney general, before i turn to my questions, i want to thank you for your leadership on an issue that matters greatly to me. and that is fried scams directed against our senior citizens. you've really taken a leadership role on this. i know the department announced in february that more than 250 defendants had been charged with scamming more than a million americans for a total amount in excess of a half a billion dollars. it's an issue we have been trying to get the department to pay attention to for a number of years and i really much appreciate your leadership. i'd now like to turn to my questions which might not be as pleasing to your ears as my thank you. the administration has now lost third daca case in federal court. that program and the fate of the group of young people for whom there is pretty wide consensus that we should try to help, continues to be clouded b

mr. chairman. >> thank you senator collins. senator king. >> i am glad we are having this hearing took a look forward with the -- to the hearing with hersa. ms. maxwell, first for you. i want to talk about one of my critical healthcare providers in the for jim and -- virginia commonwealth university. the largest safety net hospital in virginia. it is an urban, disproportionate share teaching hospital. it is representative of the hospitals that could be hurt most by recent hhs cuts to reimbursement for 340b drugs . 340b savings have allowed these hospitals to innovate. they have created a managed care program called virginia coordinated care for the iannucci -- uninsured. the program is not insurance coverage, but it is a partnership between vcu and healthcare providers to treat qualified uninsured individuals. when congress passed the 340b program, it explained it wanted to -- the program to stretch the federal -- further. statements by the ohe, and reports were a factor in the nearly 30% cut the payments for the 340b hospitals

mr. chairman and the ranking member. dr. collins, it's great to see you again. my first question is on opioids and what you're doing, and we've talked numerous times about this. obviously, i live in an area that's highly affected here. two questions. you mentioned and you said in your -- that we had put $500 million investment into this, but you've mentioned in your response to questions that if you have private partners, could you elaborate on how that partnership works and what kind of commitment dollar wise that private partnership is committing to add to the $500 million we're doing in the research? >> happy to. we have worked intensively since your wonderful decision to make $500 million available in fy-18 and to have that in the base so it will be there in '19 and beyond. working with all of the students across nih, we have put forward an opportunity for new and bold ideas to come forward, and we are in a place now, i think, of having a remarkable portfolio that we're ready to launch. you also graciously gave us that first year of support as two-year money

mr. president, i request by unanimous consent that my legislative fellow collin anderson be granted floor privileges until the end of jun. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, only in washington, d.c., and perhaps only in the walls of this capitol, is net neutrality regarded as a partisan issue. only here are there accusations that the left or the right favor a position on net neutrality. and the rest of america, net neutrality is bipartisan. in fact, nonpolitical. it is the lifeblood of the internet. it is the animating principle that enables companies and individuals to have equal access to the internet without blocki blocking, discriminating, price gouging, or favoring of some companies at the expense of others. in fact, in legislatures across the country like connecticut's, there have been proposals to do there what we are seeking to do here. that is, to preserve an open internet in accordance with the open internet order which has been rolled back by the f.c.c. strong net neutrality rules are accepted across the country on

mr. chairman, and thank you and dr. collins, great to see you again. my first question is on opioids and what you're doing and we've talked numerous times about this. obviously i live in an area that's highly affected here. two questions. you mentioned and you said that we put 500 million investment into this but you mentioned in your response to questions that you have private partners. could you elaborate on how the private partnership works and what kind of commitment dollar wise that partnership is committing to add to the $500 million that we're doing in the research in. >> happy to. we have worked intensively since your wonderful decision to make $500 million available in fy-'18 and thief o that in the base so will be there '19 and beyond. we have put forward an opportunity for new and bold ideas to tom forward and we are in a place of having a remarkable portfolio we're ready to launch. you also graciously gave us that first year of support as two-year money so we could carry over some of the fy-'18 funds into '19 since it's late enough in the y

mr. gates who pled guilty for awhile. >> kaitlin collins is reporting that president trump pressured jeffrey toobin jeff sessions to unrecuse himself on multiple occasions, one time we knew occurred at mar-a-lago in florida, the president's resort there. legally is there anything stopping the president from reinstating sessions to oversee the mueller investigation? >> in my view that would be obstruction of justice. he would be doing it because he wants jeff sessions to protect him. that's not the job of the attorney general. the job of attorney general is to follow the constitution, federal statutes and regulations of department of justice, and it is clear jeff sessions has recused because of conflicts of interest. that's why robert mueller is investigating. >> let me get your reaction, congressman, to "new york times" reporting on andrew mccabe. fired number two at the fbi, memo on the firing of his boss, james comey, former fbi deputy director wrote that rod rosenstein currently oversees the mueller investigation, deputy attorney general said that president trump asked him to reference th

mr. rodriguez, who sat right across the hall from me, had released the table. >> i'll ask more about this in the classified session. thank you. >> senator collins >> thank you, mr. chairman. senator jack reed and i co-sponsored the mccain feinstein bill that banned water boarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques because we viewed them as contrary to american values, and tantamount to torture. so let me ask you a series of questions. first, were you involved in any way in the creation of the enhanced interrogation program? >> senator, i was not and i was not read into the program until about a year into its existence. >> were you a senior manager at the c.i.a. at the time that the program was created? >> no. i had just returned from an overseas posting. i was a gf15. not yet a member of the senior executive service. i was assigned as a deputy group chief. that's pretty far down the totem pole in a program that had nothing to do with the detention and interrogation program. >> you said that the program had already been in effect for some time before you were read into it. what was your reaction when you learned of the program? >> senat

collins, and our guest, u.s. deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. [applause] ron: mr. deputy attorney general, thank you very much for participating in this event today. i would like to begin with a question that is on everybody's mind. [laughter] gen. rosenstein: uh oh! [applause] -- [laughter] ron: i would appreciate a clear and direct answer. [laughter] ron: to set the record straight. how do you pronounce your last name? [laughter] [applause] senstein orro rosenstein? gen. rosenstein: there is no right answer. i have relatives who pronounce it stein. i will answer to either one. [laughter] ron: you agreed to do this with nonterview screened questions in advance. in the presence of the press. and without any reservations, other than pending cases. the question i have is why? [laughter] gen. rosenstein: i couldn't turn down this invitation. particularly on law day, which , andry significant to me my career. i think it's important for us to take opportunities like this to get out the word about the rule of law to explain what it means and why it is critical to our dem

mr. rodriguez who sat right across the hall from me had released the cable. >> i'm over my time. i will ask some more about this in the classified session. >> senator collins >> thank you, mr. chairman. senator jack reed and i co-sponsored the mccain-feinstein bill that banned water boarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques because we viewed them as contrary to american values and tantamount to torture. so let me ask you a series of questions. first, were you involved in any way in the creation of the enhanced interrogation program? >> senator, i was not, and i was not read into the program until about a year into its existence. >> were you a senior manager at the cia at the time that the program was created? >> no. i had just returned from an overseas posting, i was a gs-15, i was not yet a member of the senior executive service. i was assigned as a deputy group chief, that's pretty far down the totem pole, in a program that had nothing to do with the detention and interrogation program. >> you said that the program had already been in effect for some time before you were read into it. what was your reaction when you learned of the program? >>

collins thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise in support of the 25th anniversary for the teachers and faculty members have strive to uphold their rigor for all. by investing in each student who walks through their halls. the school's commitment to supporting students have got lisa taught y wife at mount vernon since it opened in 1993 and all three children have attended the school. they acquired their charter school status and address the modern student needs. mount vernon has cultivated an environment for its children. i wish the faculty and students well as they finish the school year. go, trojans. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from new mexico seek ecognition? without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. lujan grisham: mr. speaker, throughout military appreciation month, i join with my fellow americans to remember the brave service men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice for this nation, and to honor the service members who are

mr. chairman and senator m you, murray, you, dr. collins, everyone, thank you so much for the work you're doing. give hope to so many people across this country. for coming to new hampshire. i especially appreciate the work that's being done to address the opioid epidemic like my colleagues on this committee. hard hit in new hampshire as you know from your visit to catholic medical center other places in the state. in your erested discussion about new drugs that are in development. at what the king potential is, are you separating out fentanyl as a particular that has very deadly properties, and therefore, of ires a different kind response, or are you lumping everything else? >> you can't lump it in with everything else because what we're hearing from the field and that's being reported is that when people overdose with doses we use of narcane to reverse the overdose. of risk is much higher so as now we, for example, we have not of how do you treat someone that's addicted to fint tinel. would like hing we to implement as soon as we get the

get out an ugly place mr and i think they're the best equipped anyway that is full time from us here at a business like i would like to thank our guests this week steel and collin lutie and for me the rescue team here in berlin dr. visits continues a picture. seen. world. coming up more than four million on the spell of the city on the net come join us as we explore. how you can bet on movie. coming next d.w. . injury conflicts with mission fleet month this week conflict zone is in this phone capital kelleys joel shipley who sits in the u. field call a month for congress governing he does fall on any prime minister pick the oldest was reelected using rhetoric described as intimidating and says no for big conflict zones. in sixty minutes on t.w. on. every journey begins with the first step and every language with the first word emerged from the. coaches in germany to learn german and why not learn to tell a simple online on your mobile and free to sept fourth learning course nico speak german meetings he wouldn't be fighting for the case to be taken seriously in the words of one here's what's coming up. on this talk on. the superheroes on a mission to change how

mr. chairman, i would like to thank my colleague, senator susan collins of maine, for advantsing this niche ty in the senate. together we pushed this commonsense provision in the house and senate. i ask everyone, mr. speaker, everyone, to please vote yes on this bipartisan bill, senate 2155. i thank you very much, mr. chairman, for this opportunity. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expire the gentlelady from california is recognized. ms. waters: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. hensarling: mr. speaker, i'm now very pleased to yield one minute to a fellow texan, the gentleman from texas, mr. williams who is an incredibly strong advocate on our committee for small business to obtain credit for their customers. one minute. mr. williams: i rise in support economic relief act this stems from years consideration, hearings, markups in the house. the senate banking committee delivers relief for the merp people. more than half of the provisions in s. 2155 originated in the house financial services committee and i applaud the

mr. manchin in west virginia i think i'd pay attention to what happened last night. >> harris: congressman collins, you have had some difficulties in certain states. i'll just point out alabama with some of the candidates that republicans have run. what are some of the lessons that are being learned along the way? you saw the president put out basically an anti-candidate message against blankenship. >> if you look at blankenship's message, blankenship's message was the one to be against. this is someone who is not in the main stream of the republican party, not in the main stream of thought some of the things coming from his rhetoric. what we have to understand here is the voters are the first and the foremost deciders. the voters have their say every time. last night they saw that and there are certain things play in different states we have to take in account. what we have is a strong team put forward by strong economic growth, low unemployment. taxes that are cut. this is what the people are seeing. if i was a democrat wanting to come back in and say i'll raise people's taxes and raise revenue,

mr. chairman and senator m you, murray, you, dr. collins, everyone, thank you so much for the work you're doing. give hope to so many people across this country. for coming to new hampshire. i especially appreciate the work that's being done to address the opioid epidemic like my colleagues on this committee. hard hit in new hampshire as you know from your visit to catholic medical center other places in the state. in your erested discussion about new drugs that are in development. at what the king potential is, are you separating out fentanyl as a particular that has very deadly properties, and therefore, of ires a different kind response, or are you lumping everything else? >> you can't lump it in with everything else because what we're hearing from the field and that's being reported is that when people overdose with doses we use of narcane to reverse the overdose. of risk is much higher so as now we, for example, we have not of how do you treat someone that's addicted to fint tinel. would like hing we to implement as soon as we get the

mr. speaker, one year ago, my community was shaken by the murder of second lieutenant richard "richie" collins iii, a young african-american stabbed to death while waiting for a bus on the campus of the university of maryland. he was a student at bowy state university, just -- bowie state university, just days from graduation. he was in college park celebrating his recent commission as an officer in the united states army. he was a young man of great promise. very talented and driven to succeed. he was popular on campus and helped create bowie state university's first lacrosse team. he was an avid player of golf, soccer, baseball. richie loved deep conversations about life, politics and philosophy. the individual on trial for his murder has been charged with a hate crime. mr. speaker, we must do more to combat the spread of hatred by spreading tolerance and respect instead. and we must never forget those like richie collins whose lives were cut short by hatred and prejudice. i, again, offer my condolences, as i have, to richie's parents, richard and dawn, his family, his friends to mark a somb

mr. trump abruptly canceled it last week with that letter. will these leaders meet? two weeks from tomorrow, in fact. kaitlan collins live at the white house with the latest. what has changed? >> reporter: it has only been four days since the president canceled this highly anticipated summit. he seems to have new found optimism that it could still take place june 12th. his aides are deeply skeptical of that timing. just to give a sense how deep the divide is between his president and his aides on the timing of this, one said it didn't exist. right now both the united states and north korea seem to be racing to resurrect this meeting even though there is only a little more than two weeks to go. the clearest sign that the canceled summit between president trump and kim jong-un may be back on. >> we're talking to them now. they very much want to do it. we'd like to do it. we'll see what happens. >> reporter: president trump confirming the meeting on twitter, praising north korea's brilliance poe continual to be a great financial nation noting, kim jong-un agrees with me on this. it will happen. the u.s. delegation led

collins in a few days to talk about that. i also mr. secretary understand there are some questions from omb about the way we believe that money should be spent and we will be insisting on the way that money should be spent. the president agreed to this budget and management from omb is one thing trying to decide what the congressional priorities should be for omb would be another thing. we are committed and we will remain committed along with you to addressing the opioid epidemic. the opioid has passed car accidents as is the number one cause of accidental death in the country. that budget was increased by $2.55 billion and 244% increase. at some point i think we want to look carefully and be sure we are not increasing that budget asked her than the money can reasonably be spent a lot of that increase, the 1.5 billion is flexible funding for the states. i would also think that right now is a good time to let the states help us figure out what works and what doesn't work and where it works and where it may not work. this is the grated en

mr. speaker. i rise to congratulate river city science academy of jacksonville, florida, for winning the state championship in the science olympiad and for their excellent representation in the national competition that took place in fort collins, colorado, on may 19, 2018. this remarkable achievement was the first time a school from duvall county has won the state competition and i couldn't be more proud of the students, teachers and parents that came together to achieve this outstanding victory. my district is home to some of the brightest students in the country and the academic excellence of the river city science academy is just more proof of the robust stem programs that we facilitate back home. stem education is so important in a highly competitive, technologically driven economy, and i'm thankful for the educaters who dedicate their lives to training the next scientists, mathematicians and engineers. congratulations once again to the river city science academy for leading the way and i look forward to hearing of their many successes in the years to come. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from arkansas, mr. womack, for five minutes. womewome mr. speaker, --

collins where they talked about the rule of law and his legal career. members of the audience at the meet --newseum asked questions at this hour-long event. [applause] ron: thank you. mr. deputy attorney general, thank you very much for particat

mr. trump deceased viewers with a report he dictated to his doctor. >>> why is the president's lawyer making statements about national security issues. does he have a national security clearance? let's begin with kaitlan collins with our top story. good morning, kaitlan >> reporter: good morning, chris. the president is at odds with a lot of his own white house after many of his staffers were left in the dark yesterday after that revelation by rudy guiliani which prompted widespread frustration and belief not only among the president's legal team but the poem who work in the building right behind me. now, their responses to these questions yesterday about who knew what and when did little to clarify the confusion but did a whole lot to call their credibility into question. rudy guiliani's revelation that president trump reimbursed michael cohen for the hush money given to porn actress stormy daniels days before the election catching many in the white house off guard. one aide telling cnn the interview stunned and shocked the communications staff who were unaware he would disclose that bombshell. >> when did you specifically know that the president repaid mr. cohen for the $130,000, you personally? >> the firs

mr. president, one other thing on my mind today is prison reform. last week, my colleagues, congressman collins and jeffries, announced they had reached a bipartisan deal that will be marked up tomorrow in the house judiciary committee. i filed the same revised bill in the senate yesterday with senator white house, our democratic colleague from rhode island. i have been focused on this issue of prison reform for some time along with a number of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and now it has gotten some real traction thanks to president trump and a roundtable he hosted at the white house earlier this year. more than 11 million people go to jail each year in the u.s., and there are currently 2.3 million people in confinement. conservatives should be concerned by those statistics for multiple reasons. for starters, the vast majority of people who end up in prison of course eventually reenter society. that's something no matter where we stand on the ideological spectrum we should be concerned about because people in prison typically will get out of prison, and the question is will they b