mrs. fischer: as others have mentioned, the process of negotiating the national defense bill is one that has a long history on capitol hill. for the past 58 years the united states congress has found a way to come together and unite behind a bipartisan bill that supports our service members and that enables the defense of this nation. we must continue this tradition, and that means recommitting to the principles of bipartisanship and compromise upon which it is built. thanks in large part to the hard work and the leadership of chairman jim inhofe and ranking member jack reed, the members of the senate armed services committee, the senate has passed an overwhelmingly bipartisan version of this year's national defense authorization act. the house of representatives, however, passed a very different bill. the conference process is ultimately about finding the best solution that supports our men and women in uniform, but we have to be willing to compromise and find consensus. we cannot resort to political brinksmanship. as the chairman said last week and some of my colleagues have mentioned here

linked restarting militaria to ukraine to its investigation over joe biden and mr biden's son hunter biden is alan fischer. this could be a pivotal week in the donald trump impeachment hearings many of those shared tool to give evidence were on the controversial july call with the ukrainian president that kills a key claim the hearings are based on 2nd hand reports giving evidence of tenet colonel alexander vigilant a career army officer and the ukraine expert on the national security council he was concerned by the call by president trump pushing for an investigation into democrat joe biden and his son immediately treat those concerns to a white house lawyer is improper for the president of the united states to demand a foreign government investigate a u.s. citizen and a political opponent a decorated veteran of the water in iraq vidlin his see those actions in testifying under attack from president trump supporters who question his loyalty this is america is the country i've served and defended that all of my brothers have served and here right matters. thank you sir gilbert. i. one a vice president mig

fischer. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. rupe you mentioned in your testimony, and although it's not a farm bill program, about the broadband reconnect pilot program applications that they're now being awarded. i have several companies in nebraska who have applied for that new pilot program over the summer. can you give us some kind of status update on that new pilot program and describe how the processing of those applications and the award decisions have been progressing so far? >> yes, senator, that you think for the question. we're very proud of the reconnect program and we thank you for that program. we believe it's vital to be able to address the broadband issues that we see. first of all, i share the belief with the secretary that investments made through the broadband pilot program are going to be critical to providing health care, education, banking, and job opportunities in open vital markets for our farmers and ranchers. i'd like to emphasize this is a pilot program, and therefore, you know, there's -- we don't kn

fischer. >> thank you mister chairman. >> mr. rupe, you mentioned in your testimony and although it's not a program about the broadband that we connect with the pilot applications that are now being awarded. i have several companies and nebraska that have applied for that new pilot program over the summer. then you give us some kind of status update on that a new pilot program. can you describe how the processing of those applications and the decisions have been progressing so far? >> yeah, senator, so proud of our reconnect program and we so appreciate your support in able to abreast -- address the broadband issues. first of all, i share of belief with the secretary that investments made through the pilot program is going to be critical to provide health care, education, banking and job opportunities in vital markets for our farmers. i'd like to emphasize this is a pilot -- pilot program and therefore we don't know all of the right answers right now and we want to make sure that we delivered a modern and efficient way. we opened

host today, eric cantor louisville, kentucky's mayor, mike fischer he is the co-chair of michael bloomberg's campaign great to see you both. mrchael bloomberg. why you are chairing him. >> michael is ready to go from day one. if ever we've had a capable candidate, it's him. he took on new york city for 12 years, elected three different times and made this the greatest city in the world, and then over this past decade has spent his time trying to figure out how he can give his money away in helping causes all around america, all around the world. he's ready to go from day one. he's proven that he can unify people and that's really what the country needs right now, for us all to get on the same page and realize diversity is our strength and work together. >> he's a pretty different candidate than the other 18 candidates running for the democratic nomination. were you waiting to see what he did with this? what were you thinking about the other democrats that have been in the race to this point? >> i've been kind of sitting on the sidelines, but when mike called and explained what he was thinking about doing and i've just always

fischer. halfway back to an era of ultra accommodative. joining us in washington, kevin cirilli. we have eight things to talk about, but i must go to the meeting of mrditorial post of the board said the only one who wants this meeting is mr. trump. is that on the edge of true? kevin: i think it is. they are similar in their rhetorical approaches on how they communicate, no doubt this will be an opportunity for the president to react in real time to the impeachment hearings. this editorial in "the washington post," these are some of the many crosscurrents between putin, erdogan, and trump. the decline of our efforts, turkey's wish to play a more prominent role. askey will send back those missiles.00 russian i guess mr. erdogan is playing to the home divided audience. who is president trump playing to this afternoon? kevin: senator lindsey graham. he has to assure the hawks on capitol hill like lindsey graham and marco rubio that he has a plan, that the trump doctrine is working, and there must be an opportunity for them to continue forward. no doubt, the state department is under intense scrutiny and the backdrop to all of this is that these hearings

mrs. fischer: mr. president, i would ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. fischer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the 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. mrs. fischer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate now proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following senate resolutions which were submitted earlier today. s. res. 437, 438, 439, 440, and 441. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measures en bloc? without objection, the senate will proceed. mrs. fischer: i ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table all en bloc. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. fischer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that if the senate receives h.

mrs. fischer: thank you, mr. president. i rise this evening to pay tribute to all the men and women who have worn our nation's uniform in defense of our freedom. veterans day is a deeply meaningful day for our nation. our country sets this day aside to honor her service members. in nebraska, we remember the sacrifices of our own heroes. we admire the courage required to leave your home in nebraska and serve america in her hour of need. it was over 100 years ago at the 11th hour on the 11th day during the 11th month of the year that the roars of battle in world war i fell silent. since then nebraskans and all americans have come together every year to renew our appreciation for our nation's heroes. we pledge that no matter how much time has passed, we will never forget their valor, their service, and their selflessness. in june it was one of the greatest honors of my life to gather at freedom's altar in normandy, france, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of d-day. i was overwhelmed with both gratitude and pride for our men