mr. president, i yield the floor mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator is recognized. mr. blumenthal: thank you. mr. president, we are at a crossroads, a historic turning point for the united states supreme court and our country. this body is often called upon to

mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: this week the senate continues to confirm impressive nominees whom president trump has asked to serve our country. we've confirmed two assistant secretaries for the department of education, scott stump and james blew and we confirmed randal quarles and now we will consider nominees for the fifth circuit and ninth circuit courts of appeals. first is andrew oldham of texas, the president's choice for the fifth circuit. mr. oldham has imposed the xiewnt in his -- community in his years of public service. mr. oldham has degrees from the university of virginia, cambridge, and harvard law. he clerked on the d.c. circuit court and on the supreme court. he carries the highest possible rating from the american bar association, unanimously well qualified. he comes highly recommended by colleagues and peers from across the spectrum. glef reasony supported -- constantly enthusiastically and without reservation. she and the nominee worked on a number of important subjects. she said that

mr. president. mr. wyden: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: mr. president, as senator klobuchar noted, democrats and republicans are here to talk about this critically important issue, and that is protecting the franchise for our people. and i want to begin, mr. president, by saying the ink is barely dry on the indictment of the russian hackers who tried to undermine our democracy, and the president of the united states is trying to deny that it actually happened. just put your arms around that one for a moment, colleagues. the indictment of the russian hackers is just days old. the president's own intelligence officials are telling him that an attack on you are a democracy -- on our democracy is a near certainty, and he has just not been willing to step up and prevent it. in fact, he continues to refuse to accept the basic facts of the attack -- the russians perpetrated in 2016. the fact, however, is americans are learning more and more about what actually happene

mr. president. ceiling alliance. we pledge through the car pen terse union and jointly trusted fund 50,000 upgraded training opportunities. president trump: i know the union. >> mr. president, johnny taylor. good to see you. president trump: my friend. >> on baft of the society of human resource management, we have 300,000 members, and more importantly, we touch the lives of 100 million workers every day. we're dedicated and committed to creating 127,000 new opportunities over the next five years for america. thank you. [applause] >> mr. president, my name is scott price, pleased to represent u.p.s. where we're committing to 51,750 new roles through higher education and apprenticeships. president trump: thank you very much. [applause] >> mr. president, i'm julie murphy from wal-mart and we commit to train and develop over one million associates in the next five years. [applause] president trump: thank you very much. that is fantastic. thank you. so that's a big beginning. that's much bigger beginning, ivanka, than any

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. nelson: mr. president, to accommodate the senator from utah, i will not make my remarks first just by way of introduction to say that tonight at midnight, american national security is going to beer reversibly weakened by the actions of -- irreversibly weakened because of the actions of the administration because at midnight the administration will allow the online publication of blueprints to manufacture 3-d manufacturing of plastic guns and this is one example. so to accommodate the senator from utah, instead of making my remarks now, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. 3304 submitted earlier today, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. lee: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. lee: mr. president, reserving the right to object. i first saw this legislation

mr. president. you.laming not you, but those opposite. s anted to give the greater advertising flexibility. no.se officers said no, no, we won't let that happen. president, i don't know if those opposite are suggesting be that particular matter revisited. off one that we've taken the table but perhaps he would ike to clarify if he's now proposing, that which was referred to, be revisited. >> that's a good idea. farrell, final supplementary comment. >> thank you. given -- >> order on my right. > given that sbs currently holds the australian broadcast fifa world the 2022 cup, will the turnbill finally say its cuts the bs programming and public. >> senator? you.hank hat a good thing it is, that bs is broadcasting every event involving the soccer roos. what a great thing it is, that be broadcasting the world cup final. this side of on the chamber, we think that's a good thing. obviously, we're aware of the technical difficulties that they had, and sbs, and optis ensure ked together to that there is even more that's broadcast. would ask sident,

mr. president. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the following amendments be called up and reported by number: senator manchin's amendment number 3553, senator paul's amendment number 3543. i further ask consent that at 5:45 p.m. today the senate vote in relation to the manchin and paul amendments in the order listed and that there be no second-degree amendments in order to the amendments prior to the votes. finally, i ask that there be ten minutes equally divided in the usual form between the two votes. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. ms. collins: thank you, mr. president. mrs. murray: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i come this -- the presiding officer: the clerk will report the amendments en bloc. the clerk: the senator from maine, ms. collins, on behalf of of other senators, proposes amendments en bloc numbered 3553 to amendment number 3399 and amendment number

mr. president. mr. president, i just want to commend the senators who are the authors of this amendment, the senator from kansas, senator moran, has discussed this issue with me many times, as have the senators from new mexico who feel very strongly about it as well, and i know the senators from colorado are also cosponsors. as chairman of the subcommittee with jurisdiction over the funding for amtrak, i want to say that i support this amendment. amtrak's national network is vital for the hundreds of communities across the country that it serves, particularly in the more rural areas of our country. at a hearing that i chaired last may, this past may, with the ranking senator reed, amtrak committed to not make service changes in advance of new authorizing legislation. it also committed to consult with the communities that it serves before majority making changes that would affect the residents of those communities. we fully expect amtrak to stand by the commitments that were made at our may hearing. this

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. mr. rounds: i ask the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. rounds: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to executive session for the consideration of calendar 942, that the nomination be confirmed, the motion 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 nomination be principled in the record, the president be immediately notified of the senate's action, and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. rounds: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 346, s. 526. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 346, s. 526, a bill to amend the small business act, and so forth and for

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii. ms. hirono: mr. president, the senate has a constitutional duty equal to the president's to provide advice and consent on all judicial nominees, including, of course, the president's supreme court nominee, brett kavanaugh. our advice and consent rule requires us to review the totality of judge kavanaugh's record and experiences, including the documents from his time in the executive branch. judge kavanaugh worked as a fellow in the first bush administration's office of the solicitor general. for ken starr in the office of the independent counsel investigating president clinton, and in president george w. bush's white house in the office of white house counsel, and as staff secretary to the president. as has been the practice for previous supreme court nominees, the judiciary committee should ask for and receive all records related to his work in these roles. any document request of the bush library or to the national archives should parallel similar requests made for other supreme court nominees. take

mr. president. mr. president, i come here again sadly -- the presiding officer: the senator will suspend. the senate is in a quorum call. mr. tillis: mr. president, i'd ask unanimous consent that a quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. tillis: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i come here as a full philment of a promise -- fulfillment of a promise i made a couple of months ago to bring to the attention of the american an injustice occurring in turkey. i'm here to talk about american pastor andrew brunson. he's from a church, he's from western north carolina. he spent 20 years in turkey as a missionary. he started out just missionary work without a church. he built a very small church that maybe could house 100 people in euz -- izmir. in 2016 pastor brunson was apprehended and been in prison ever since. he was in prison for almost 19 months without charges. for the vast majority of that time he was in a cell designed for eight people and it had 21 in. without charge

mr. president, mrs.reagan, federal chancellor, ladies and gentlemen and berliners, let the brandenburg gates become the symbol. not of two separate and hostile worlds, but an open door through which peaceful ideas flourish. this solution of the future full of hope and confidence, which -- to berlin five years ago on your first visit profoundly echos the sentiment of the berliners. today, i welcome you and mrs. reagan right at the gate. i do serve on behalf of berliners. berliners of our city, welcome to berlin. mr. president, you have come on the occasion of our 750th anniversary celebrations, as the president and queen elizabeth. you have come as a good friend and reliable partner. you have come to a dynamic and city which looks to the future with optimism. mr. president, on liberty and security above all to the commitment of the united states of america. together with great britain and france, your country secures the bases for the viability and variety of our city. you share with us these historical o

mr. president. i yield the floor. >> mr. president, today i rise to oppose the nomination of brett kavanaugh to the supreme court. this is an issue that i will return to in the coming weeks and months at greater length, but i did want to say a few words about why i am in opposition to mr. kavanaugh. i think many americans have a pretty good sense of what the function of congress is, what the president of the united states does. but, in fact, i think many americans do not fully appreciate the role thatap the supreme court place in our lives. in the past decade alone, the supreme court has issued some incredibly controversy all, and to my mind, disastrous decisions that have had a profound impact on the lives of the american people. let me just read you for a momentnt why this nomination iso very important. in looking at what the supreme court, often via 5-4 vote, a one-vote majority, has done in recent years. mr. president, if you go out onto the streets of i think any community in the united states of america, whether it is a

mr. president. if for whatever reason the president of the united states is not going to do what is right, congress must do it. democrats must do it. republicans must do it. the congress must make it clear -- and this is the resolution that i am introducing and asking for unanimous consent. the congress must make it clear that we accept the assessment of our intelligence community with regard to russian election interfering in our country and in other democracies. does anybody doubt the truth of that? the congress must move aggressively to protect our election system from interference by russia or any foreign power. does anybody deny the importance of that? the congress must demand that the sanctions against russia, as the democratic leader mentioned passing with 98 votes, be fully implemented. 98 votes on that issue. the congress must make it clear that we will not accept any interference with the ongoing investigation of special counsel mueller, such as the offer of preemptive pardons or the firing

mr. president? >> senator from arizona. >> mr. president, i join my colleagues today, thank senator toomey from pennsylvania, senator corker from tennessee, especially, for working this out. let's be clear. this is a rebuke of the president's abuse of trade authority. the president has abused section 232 to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium, impacting our allies, like canada, mexico, countries of the eu. can you imagine being in canada and being told that your steel and aluminium exports to the united states represent a national security threat? canadian prime minister justin trudeau rightfully called the president's recent tariffs an affront to the long-standing security partnership between canada and the united states. and he continued kind of insulting. canada is the united states largest consumer, it buys more goods from the united states than china, japan and the u.k. combined. canadian companies operating in the united states directly employ 500,000 americans. canada and the united states share more than 5500 miles of a p

mr. president. i yield the floor. the president pro tempore. mr. hatch: mr. president, i come to the floor to speak on a subject of importance. it's a subject i know something about. one that will not only influence the senate aunderra in the -- agenda in the near term but will affect our democracy in the years to come. i speak about the supreme court. yesterday justice anthony kennedy, a great friend of mine and a wonderful justice on the court announced his retirement on july 31. he has served with the highest distinction. over his tenure, he has -- supreme court playing a pivotal role in some of the most consequential court decisions. from mcdonald versus chicago to citizens united versus f.e.c. he rightly gained a reputation as the supreme court's swing vote. sometimes he sided with the court's liberal wing. other times he sided with the conservatives, but he always sided with what he believed to be the correct interpretation of the law. what more could we ask for from a judge in throughout his public service justice kennedy has mentioned a generation of j

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: yes. mr. thune: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, if there's one thing we've been able to rely on the past half century or so is democratic hysteria over republican supreme court nominations. no sooner does a republican president announce a nomination than the democrats are off and running. it doesn't matter who the nominee is. the playbook is the same. the democrats warn that equal rights are in jeopardy, that our system of government may not survive. in fact, that americans may not survive. that's right, mr. president. in the leadup to justice gorsuch's confirmation the head of one liberal organization stated that there was, and i quote, that there is substantial evidence that if gorsuch's egregious views were to become laws, americans lives would be put at risk in untold ways, end quote. i'm happy to report that after justice gorsuch's

mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, i spoke before the 4th of july recess about two financial risks that are coming our way thanks to not getting anything done on climate change. one, of course, is the risk to coastal properties, not something that the presiding officer has to worry too much about given his home state but something that rhode island's ocean state has to care a lot about and the distinguished senator from florida and his constituents have to care a lot about because there is a point where rising sea levels intrude into the sailability, the mortgagability, and insurability of houses and none other than freddie mac, the huge federal housing corporation is predicting that there will be a coastal property meltdown. the other risk is that of a carbon bubble. there is a lot of talk in the economic literature about a carbon bubble. one recent financial study reports the potential effects of a carbon bubble on financial stability

mr. president. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mrs. ernst: mr. president, i rise today to voice my support for the nomination of brett kavanaugh to the supreme court of the united states. as the final arbiter of this constitution, the supreme court has the sacred duty of ensuring equal justice under the law to the american people. the supreme court wields the immense power of review. dadetocqueville called it a more imposing judicial power than was ever constituted by any other people, end quote. as members of the senate, it is not often that we get the opportunity to give our advice and consent on the confirmation of supreme court justices. it is even rarer that we get the opportunity to confirm someone as highly qualified and well respected as brett kavanaugh. i am especially impressed by judge kavanaugh's interpretation of the constitution as it applies to the ever encroaching power of federal agencies. even before the people of iowa sent me to washington, i was horrified by the impact of increasingly burdensome regulations imposed on hardworki

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i request that proceedings under the qurk be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. murkowski: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 499, h.r. 2,779. the presiding. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. ms. murkowski: mr. president,, let's take back that previous request and ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of the calendar number 499, s. res. 2,779. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 499, s. 2,779, a bill to amend the zimbabwe democracy and economic recovery act of 2,001. the presiding officer: is there any objection to proceeding to the matter? without objection, the senate will proceed. ms. murkowski: mr. pleader, i ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported amendment be withdrawn, the flake amendment at the desk be agreed to, and the bill as amended be considered read a third time. the presiding

the president should be coming off the plane. there is mrs. reagan and there is the president of the united states, ronald reagan, and his wife nancy. the president is being greeted this morning by, as i stated, the u.s. ambassador to west germany, richard burt. he is joined in his greeting by governing mayor eberhard dpeep again. mrs. burt is also here. major general john h. mitchell, the u.s. comen daunt is among the party as well as the french commandant and his wife madeline. major general patrick brooking, the united kingdom commandant. mr. peter repsh, the president of the house of representatives of the city of berlin, fraubeger and the tempelhof airport commander. the president and his wife, as you can see, are going through the reception line right now. it is a beautiful day, by the way out here at tca. the temperature is nice and warm. a little bit overcast, which of course makes things much more comfortable for the service members in uniform. the president giving a salute there to the kucolonel, the bas commander here at tca, meeting

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. first i would like to associate myself with the remarks of the outstanding senator from west virginia. we had a chance to be together on monday night when the president announced the nomination of judge brett kavanaugh to serve on the u.s. supreme court and i agree with my colleague from west virginia that it is a fantastic choice. i said before that there are three things that i want to see in any nominee for the court, the appropriate judicial philosophy, a strong intellect, and a solid character. and everything that i've seen so far confirms that judge kavanaugh satisfies all three of these requirements. so, mr. president, i'd like to talk today about a few things i think we can expect to see over the next couple of months. first, i think it's safe to say that throughout this process, judge kavanaugh will not announce how he's going to rule on cases that might come before him on the supreme court. mr. president, you and i know as we walk back from the visit at the white house and w

mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: i ask that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: i have eight requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have been approved by the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. cornyn: mr. president, this week we'll continue the confirmation process for judge kavanaugh who we know has been selected by the president to be on the supreme court. there have been a questioning issued by the judiciary committee to which the nominee has responded. i -- i know that white house counsel and others are already trying to put their heads together with the bush library down in dallas as well as the nationals be a ciefs to be responsive to the document requests that have been made for the judge. but as the author of the more than 300 published opinions, judge kavanaugh is a well-known judicial nominee, and i think his experience the last 12 years on the d.c. circuit court of appeals has

mr. president, i'm tom clerken with signatory cma alliance. we pledge through the carpenters' union 50,000 upgraded traying opportunities. [applause] trading opportunities. >> i know the union well. [applause] >> mr. president, donny taylor, good to see you. [laughter] >> my friend. >> that's right. on behalf of the society for human resource management, we have 300,000 members, and more importantly, we touch the lives of 100 million workers every day. we're dedicated and committed to creating 127,000 new opportunities over the next five years for america. thank you. [applause] >> mr. president, my name is scott price, i'm pleased to represent ups where we are committing to 51,750 new roles through higher education and apprenticeships. >> fantastic, thank you. [applause] >> mr. president, i'm julie murphy from walmart -- >> walmart, wait million you hear this number. >> and we commit to train and develop over one million associates in the next five years. [applause] >> thank you very much. that is fantastic. thank you. so that's a big beginnin

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. toomey: thank you, mr. president. i rise in >> i am from pennsylvania. >> rtthank you. we are going to be voting on it seemed. let me be clear, this is a motion that potentially would reflect the incentives of the senate. congress should have a role in determining the use of section 232 to impose tariffs. let me give a little bit of context. pretrade is enormously consumptive, enormously helpful for our economy and our standard of living. the u.s. has been the leader in promoting free trade around the world for many decades. that is part of the reason that we are the most affluent society on the globe by far outperforming the rest of the world. what it does is it provides our consumers with many choices and lower costs. therefore, a more affordable standard of living and it provides our workers with foreign markets. 95% of the worlds population lives somewhere else. i want to be selling to them. we do that through an environment of free trade. take nafta for instance. since it was enacted in 1994, pennsylvan

mr. president. the presiding officer: majority whip. mr. cornyn: mr. president, reserving the right to object, let me first thank the senator from arizona and the senator from delaware for expressing all of our concern about russian interference in the 2016 election. it's absolutely clear they did, and the president has said as much on a number of occasions. now, i agree in helsinki he was less than clear about that, but he came back and said that he'd misspoke and reafarmed his earlier position -- reaffirmed his earlier position that, yes, the russia government had attempted to interfere in the election, although nobody disputes the fact that they were successful in changing a single vote or affecting the outcome. ironically, the very same investigation which has made clear that the russians did attempt to disrupt the election has also made clear there is no evidence of collusion that anybody has uncovered to date. so my concern is with -- with this resolution is that it is purely a symbolic act, and what we need to do is not just offer symbolic resolu

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. rubio: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent take the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. rubio: if you're like me, a member of the senate in the hallways this week, i think the two questions that have come up over and over again were about the nato meeting that just transpired over the last couple of days and the upcoming meeting on monday between vladimir putin and president trump. and i had intended to come to the floor and speak about policy towards china on trade. there's a lot to cover. there was an article this morning in the associated press about how the chinese government has turned the american business class into lobbyists, basically telling these guys that are doing business in china, shoe go back to washington and -- you should go back to washington and lobby your government to stop imposing tariffs are you guys are going to pay a price. but i'll have time to talk about that next week. that was really my intentsz. i want to focus in on this meeti

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. lee: mr. president, on roll call vote 150, i voted aye. it was my intention to vote no. therefore, i ask unanimous consent that i be permitted to change my vote since it will not affect the outcome. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. lee: thank you. mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate -- i ask unanimous consent that the senate resume legislative session for a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. thursday, july 12. further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning business be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day and morning business be closed. finally, following leader rema

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, i would like to ask that any pending quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: and, second, to follow up on the remarks of our distinguished democratic ranking member on the environment public works committee, senator carper, who spoke about the environmental prospects of trump's nominee, brett kavanaugh, should he reach the supreme court. i come at this from a very particular angle, and let me start by kind of laying the predicate, if you will, for my comments. a long, long time ago when the founding fathers were setting up our country they brought over the tradition of an independent judiciary and of the common jury from england. it was extremely important to the founding generation, the declaration of independence made reference to efforts to interfere with the right to trial by jury, the efforts by british agents of influence to interfere with american juries was a constant thorn, and the feeling was that the independence of court

mr. president. as i indicated, i believe that the debate about ryan bounds is not a typical debate on a typical nomination for reasons i'm going to outline tonight. and in my view, it is vital that the senate look at this nomination in a broader context, particularly as it relates to what i call the decline of principled bipartisanship here in the senate. and i want to be clear about what i mean when i mention the word "principled bipartisanship." and the reason i describe it that way. bipartisanship born of principle. bipartisanship is not about taking each other's bad ideas. i see my friend in the chair, the president of the senate, from south dakota. i wouldn't come up to hip in the name of -- up to him in the name of bipartisanship and ask him to take a flawed idea. and i'm quite sure he wouldn't ask that of me, because i know the president of the senate well enough to know that he's had an interest over the years in bipartisanship built around principle. so bipartisanship is not about taking eac

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator for texas. mr. cruz: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cruz: mr. president, i have two requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. cruz: i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: mr. schatz: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. jones: i ask unanimous consent to call off the quorum call, please. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. jones: i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. jones: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise today to speak on a matter of both personal and national importance. as many folks now by now, a defining moment in my career as a prosecutor was bringing to justice two former ku klux klansmen for the bombin

thank you mr president. so i did i returned actually came straight from north korea with a couple of stops here to brussels we had a productive conversation there remains a great deal of work to do but i think most importantly my counterpart came young troll made a commitment consistent with what president trump was able to achieve with chairman kim which was they intend to denuclearize they're going to accomplish it and now the task is to get it implemented. well you know. thank you it's just to finish on that you know so important that was an amazing and really an amazing meeting i thought and i really think that we establish very good relationships will see where it all ends but there have been no missile tests there have been no research where that has been they have blown up a side i hear they're blowing up another site missile site they've taken down all of the propaganda in fact somebody said there's no more music playing at the border line you know the music was going on for many years they said rece

mr. president, i yield the floor mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator is recognized. mr. blumenthal: thank you. mr. president, we are at a crossroads, a historic turning point for the united states supreme court and our country. this body is often called upon to consider court nominations for the district courts and the court of appeals. but we are at an extraordinary decision point for the united states supreme court, the highest court in the land, a branch of government that can shape the law and culture of this country for generations to come. when we are called upon to consider a supreme court nominee, ordinarily we have to read tea leaves. ordinarily we have no way to know with certainty the values and beliefs that someone will bring to the court. ordinarily presidents make every effort to persuade us that their nominees were picked on the basis of merit, not ideology. and so ordinarily we look forward to hearing what nominees tell us about their beliefs and values since they are unknown when we first hear their name. mr. president, we live in times that are the oppo

mr. president, else stresteemed mrs, esteemed colleagues. we are approaching the end of the meeting between the leaders of the soviet union and the united states of america. the fourth such meeting in three years. the visit of the united states' president to our country is drawing to a close. the president and i have summed up the results of a dialogue between our two countries at the highest level. we have discussed both the immediate and longer-term prospects for soviet/u.s. relations. we have signed documents which record what is being achieved and provide guidelines for the future. among them, a historic place will belong to the ratification documents which give effect to the treaty on intermediate and short-range missiles. the exchange a few minutes ago gives instant congratulagratifi. assessing the work done over these past few days, we can say our satisfaction in what is happening these days in moscow is big politics. politics that affect the interest of millions and millions of people. each such meeting dealt a blow at the foundation

mr. president, did michael cohen betray you, sir? mr. president? did michael cohen betray you, sir? mr. esident, why did you cancel the meeting with vladimir putin, sir? did michael cohen betray you, sir? did you mislead the american people, sir, when you said you did not know about the payment? >> "outfront" now, former nixon white house counsel, john dean, asha rangappa, and audio expert, paul ginsburg. he has 40 years experience in this area, including working on the o.j. simpson and waco cases. john, let me start with you, moen moichael cohen appears to officially turned on trump by releasing this tape. a trump he made of a man that he said he would take a bullet for. maybe he meant, shoot a bullet at. how worried should trump be? >> well, i think there's good reason to be concerned. this is -- michael is certainly in the process of turning towards state's -- becoming a witness for the southern district, if they're inclined. you know, i think that he -- there's, what, 4 million pages of records that were seized from michael cohen. about 3,000 of them were deemed to be attorney/client

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mr. manchin: madam president, i rise again to read letters from west virginians about the fears and concerns they have about lawsuits being led by the 20 u.s. attorneys general including west virginia's own attorney general that threatens to one again allow insurance companies to deny coverage to west virginians with preexisting conditions. 800,000 west virginians including 90,600 children have a preexisting condition. let me go over things that qualify as preexisting conditions and that health insurance can rate you on. organ transplant, anxiety, cancer, heart disease, alzheimer's disease, crohn's disease, parkinson's disease, especially help circumstance anemia, depression, lupus, obsessive compulsive disorder, diabetes, kidney disease, sleep apnea, obesity, multiple sclerosis, bulimia, asthma, tuberculosis. i've always said that our nation's current health careship is in need of repair. but every west virginian deserves access to quality, affordable health care. and i am very concerned

mr. president. i yield the floor. >> mr. president? >> the senator from missouri. >> mr. president, i definitely want to agree with one thing my friend fromai connecticut just said, which is there is a long record here on the presidents of nominee, and it's a record i want to look at. it's a record i want to be sure that i can talk to the people i work for about as we go through this process and thisav process will have some time. my guess is it will take about the same amount of time that it is taken for the last two nominees, which means some time in the month of september in all likelihood will be on the floor voting and we will see where that boat takes us. i would think that a lot of people have jumped to a lot of conclusions here. my friend, , somebody had a news release yesterday at a news conference i was in, one of our fellow senators apparently had gotten out a little too quick in the news release was supreme court nominee xxx and a blank will be the most extreme, is the most extreme candidate that the president p could have possibly picked. .. for him. and we're

mr. president, mrs. ford, mr. vice president, mr. vice president to be... ] [laughter and cheering the distinguished guests here, and you ladies and gentlemen. i'm going to say "fellow republicans" here, but those whwatching from a distance, all those miions of democrats and independents who i know are looking for a caus around which to rally and which i believe we can give them. [all cheering] - how many timesat a nn is there real emotion and is there real interest in what's being said at the podium? - someone asked me to write a letter for a time capsule that is ling to be opened angeles 100 years from now, and i set out to do so, riding down the coast in an automobile, looking at the blue pacific out on one side and the santa ynez mountains on the other, and i couldn't help but wonder if it was going to be that beautiful

mr. president, working with german tv. you said putin isn't an enemy, isn't a friend, just a competitor. president trump: competitor. reporter: do you consider him as a security threat for europe or to the u.s.? thank you. president trump: hey, i don't want him to be and that's why i guess we have nato. and that's why we have the united states that just had the largest military budget ever. $700 billion approved. $716 billion next year. no, i hope that we'll be able to get along. i said from day one, whether it's china or russia, you know, we're working on trade with china right now. i don't say -- that's an easy situation because that's been years of abuse of the united states by presidents, frankly, that allowed that to happen. i've taken over a lot of bad hands and i'm fixing each one of them and fixing them well. china is going to be, i think, very -- ultimately taken care of. i have great respect for their president, as you know, president xi spent two days there, among the most magical two days i ever lived. and i thi

mr. president, esteemed mrs. reagan, ladies and gentlemen, comrades. [ foreign language ] >> we are approaching the end of the meeting between the leaders of the soviet union and the united states of america, the fourth such meaning and three years. the visits of the united states president to our country is drawing to a close. [ foreign language ] >> the president and i have summed up the results of a dialogue between our two countries at the highest level. we have discussed both the immediate and longer-term prospects for soviet-u.s. relations. [ foreign language ] >> we have signed documents which record what has been achieved, and provide guidelines for the future. [ foreign language ] >> among them, a historic place will belong to the ratification documents to the treaty on shorter range and intermediate missiles. [ foreign language ] >> the exchange a few minutes ago of the instruments on ratification means that the era of nuclear disarmament has begun. [ foreign language ] >> assessing the work done over t

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. casey: thank you, madam president. i'm proud to be here this morning to talk about a legislative matter that's taken many years to come to fruition. we were able to work together in a bipartisan manner to reauthorize the carl d. perkins career and technical education act and make important updates that will support high quality programs, foster innovation and improve access for all students. and i'm very proud to be joined by senator enzi who worked for years on this issue. i'll say more about senator enzi in a moment. but perkins c.t. effort, c.t.e. standing for career and technical education is critical to creating jobs and growing wages and assuring workers of the tools to outcompete anyone in the world. this will empower states and local districts to create programs that provide better outcome for all students, educators, and our economy. since the last reauthorization in 2006 -- you heard that right -- 2006, there have been significant changes to both technology and our economy, a

mr. president, is russia still targeting the u.s.? is russia still targeting the u.s., mr. president? the president, thank you very much, no. no, you don't believe that to be the case? the president, no. that's their own transcript. >> this is the thing. i'm not confused, i just think he is, what is the s.a.t. version of the word dissembling when he tries to do anything else other than russia interfered in the election. we know that the trump administration -- excuse me, the trump campaign was eagerly seeking out, being reached out to and was happy to have russian intelligence about the opposition campaign. so anything else he says at this point is just lying, and that's just a difficult thing because we've not been in this place, certainly not in my lifetime, where we all have to sit here with a president not telling the truth. >> hang on. >> hold on. "the new york times" is reporting that he had an intelligence briefing two weeks before the inauguration where he was presented, danielle, with evidence, text messages and other evidence that vladimir putin directed, directed the meddlin