cantwell: if i could, mr. president, ask the senator from oregon one more question and maybe my other colleagues will join in. but when you don't realize the savings and you cost-shift to the states, one of the key populations that we really want to take care of are pregnant women and children. we don't want to have less money, and if you think about medicaid, that's primarily a big part of the population. i know our colleague from pennsylvania has joined us, and he's been a champion of the chip program and everything that we do for women and children. and i don't know if he's seen this in his state, but i don't know if the senator from oregon or the senator from michigan or the senator from pennsylvania wants to comment on this. but the notion that we are not realizing the savings and then figuring out how to best utilize those for the delivery of the services that so many people are counting on, you're really going to be starting in a very bad place with the people who need these resources most. when it come

i'm proud to be joined by my colleague, senator cantwell, brown and kane. i'm going to be a brief minute on the gore such hearings and then we'll talk about healthcare. now, as you all know judge gorsuch hearing is still going on. we'll have more to say on that later. i want to say one thing based on what i've seen so far. judge gorsuch looks like he's playing dodgeball with the senate judiciary committee. he is bent over backwards to avoid revealing anything, anything at all about his judicial philosophy. or the legal issues that concern the american people. there is no legally justifiable rationale for not answering the questions he was asked. he's hiding behind this. he simply wants to hide his views from the american people. okay? now let's go to care. if the house and senate are successful in passing from care and it's looking less likely that they are right now, the american people will remember who crippled the healthcare system in this country. when premiums start to go up, they'll know president trump and the republicans did it. when healthcare ins

senator bennett is next, then enator cantwell. enator cantwell. >> since i know you're well familiar with this committee, i can throw a lot at you at once, so thank you. one, i want to know whether you support the export-import bank and the concept of credit agency for the united states. senator cantwell: and whether the president should immediately appoint people to get it functioning at the level it should. number two, will you be aggressive in getting europeans to massively stop subsidizing airbus you know that the air space sector, $17 billion of illegal subsidies, brings the total of european subsidies to about $22 billion. i want to know if you're going to be aggressive on that. our colleagues here in the trade facilitation and trade enforcement act included authorization for $15 million in trade enforcement trust funds and that was about making sure that we had ample -- ample support within ustr to actually fight for trade enforcement. i believe in an economy outside the united states selling u.s. products. in fact, i was v

cantwell: mr. president, i rise today to speak about the nomination of congressman ryan zinke to be secretary of interior. the secretary of interior is one of the most important jobs in the federal government, and even more so for people in the west. i know the presiding officer would agree with that. the department of interior has an incredible broad portfolio. it is responsible for managing our nation's public lands, our national parks, our national wildlife refuges, and overseeing mineral and energy development on our public lands and in our federal waters offshore, making sure that the taxpayers of the united states get a fair deal for the resources that the public, the public actually owns. so ensuring also that tribal trust responsibilities are met and attending to what are our insular affairs. and the secretary of interior manages a large part of water resources in western states, again which i know the presiding officer knows so well because there are so many issues -- did the president kno

cantwell: i just heard a little bit of my colleague here talking about this nomination process and hearings and the cabinet. i just want to emphasize that we've never seen a cabinet quite like this, their connections to the private sector, their financial holdings, the variety of things. the american people deserve for us to do a good job and dig into these things, to make sure that people have disclosure statements, that people know what these issues are and we're going to continue that process, whether they are cabinet level or sub cabinet level. but i'm here today to talk about the nomination of governor rick perry of texas to be the secretary of energy. while people may know governor perry, i'm certain the people of texas know him and people nationwide might know him, they remember him for his famous quip about wanting to get rid of an agency but then not remembering the name of the agency, and the agency he was talking about is the department of energy. and so he became famous for that, and i think that in some context, it gave us the ability to focus in on exactly how important the de

cantwell: mr. president, i'm coming to the senate floor to speak in opposition to this resolution. many of my colleagues know we have had discussions on several congressional review acts. in principle congressional review act, besides repealing the executive orders, also have the unfortunate aspect to them that they also negate the ability to make new rules any time soon in the same area. so, for example, if you like some of this rule but not all of it, by doing the c.r.a. you are preventing the agency from moving forward on any improvements. i always believed in the legislative process, working with my colleague from alaska and working with my colleagues from other areas, i think we could work together to resolve key issues. passing this congressional review act on an issue as important as our public lands and negating the hard work that the executive branch did over a long period of time is something that my colleagues and i just have to say no to. when it comes to public lands, we want transparency, we want sunshine, we want a bottom's up approach when it comes to land managemen

some senate democrats were not convinced, including maria cantwell of washington state. i said earlier that ryan zinke had just been reelected as senator. of course i meant congressman from 110 of i but get back -- from montana. let's go back to politics and president trump taking a softer tone in his congressional address. chief washington correspondent kevin cirilli is that the white house. what is the president planning today post address? kevin: president trump will meet with senior congressional leaders in the roosevelt room this afternoon. is trying tor he galvanize support on capitol hill for his legislative agenda. he has a hefty two-do list, from raining back the affordable care act, as well as tax reform and of course, host of issues on foreign policy. he has also got to unify this republican party. last night in his speech he called for a $1 trillion infrastructure package. i could be a divisive issue, particularly -- that could be a divisive issue, to covertly amongst more conservative members and the tea party. vonnie: during the speech it seemed to be unifi

cantwell: mr. president, i rise to speak in opposition --. the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. ms. cantwell: thank you, mr. president. i ask the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. cantwell: mr. president, i rise to speak in opposition to the resolution which uses the congressional review act process to overturn what is a fish and wildlife service resolution prohibiting certain inhumane methods of killing bears and wolves within the 16 national wildlife refuges in alaska. that's about 20% of the wildlife refuges that maintain within the state of alaska. i understand that the opponents of the fish and wildlife are arguing that the state and states' rights issues are at hand andhey're responsible for the fishnd wilen this state. that is certainly true within the state but on federal fish and wildlife land, the u.s. fish and wildlife service is in charge like at mount rainier or olympic national park the national park service is in charge. i'

mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the thune substitute amendment at the desk be considered, the cantwell at the desk be considered and agreed to, the thune substitute amendment as amend be agreed to, the bill as amed be -- amended be considered read and passed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: so,man, i ask unanimous consent when the senate completes its business today, it adjourned until 9:30 thursday, march 30. further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use it later in the day and morning business be closed. further, following leader remarks, the senate resum can of h.j. res. 67, with all debate time being expired. finally, the joint resolution be read a third time and the senate vote on the passage of the joint resolution with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: so, if ness no further business to come befo

cantwell: mr. president, i yield back the remaining time. the presiding officer: all time was yielded back. the clerk will read the title of the joint resolution for the third time. the clerk: house joint resolution 44, disapproving the rule submitted by the department of the interior relating to bureau of land management regulations and so forth. the presiding officer: the question -- is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays have been ordered. the question occurs on passage of h. j. res. 44. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or to change their vote? if not, the yeas are 51. the nays are 48. the joint resolution is passed. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the the majority leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 18, seema verma, to be the administrator of the centers for medicare and medicaid services. the presiding officer: the question is on the m

we've been making progress on that problem and that's what i want to refer to senator cantwell is point about resources. resources are important and i wish every policy decision we make in this committee and we make in congress and made at the white house was driven by what is the right policy results. but far too often it's driven by the budget numbers. that's the reality. that's what we deal with. senator cantwell is point is if you move to a block grant the medicaid program, the odds are it's going to be to fill up a budget number, not fill a policy driven objective. and who is vulnerable? the most vulnerable people in our society. in maryland almost 70% of the medicaid population are from communities of color. that's in my state of maryland,, 70%. so when we expanded the opportunities for medicaid under the affordable care act it made a big difference. you may be smart with the greater big health center, prince george's county. you are familiar with that community. i've been visiting that center for many years. they are now able to provide mental health services and pediatric dental

senator bennett is next and then senator cantwell. senator cantwell. >> thank you, senator. mr. lighthizer, thank you for being here. congratulations on your nomination. i know you're well familiar with this committee. i can throw a lot at you at once if i could. one, i want to know whether you support the export/import bank and the credit agency for the united states and whether the president should appoint people to get it functioning at the level it should? number two, will you be aggressive in getting europeans to stop massively subsidizing airbus. you know the wto has found the air space sector $7 billion of illegal subsidies. that brings the total to about 22 billion. i want to know if kronoknow if to be aggressive on that. our colleagues included an authorization for 15 million in trade enforcement trust funds, and that was about making sure that we had ample support within ustr to actually fight for trade for enforcement. i believe in an economy outside the united states selling u.s. products. in fact, i was very happy the last administration had a goal of doubling the e

cantwell: i rise to join my colleagues on the senate floor and i thank the senator from washington for her leadership on this issue and to join my colleagues in voicing strong opposition and deep concern to religious 43 -- to h.j. res. 43, a resolution of disapproval. this resolution would threaten access to health care for thousands of women and families in the state of washington and millions of people across the nation. h.j. res. 43 would make it easier for states to discriminate against health care providers who serve low-income and vulnerable patients under tl

chairman. >> thank you, senator cantwell. next up is senator hassen. >> thank you, mr. chair and thank you to all the witnesses for being here. i have appreciated this ugs ask. i'm also new to the committee and new to some of these issues so i appreciate it very much. mr. pai, thank you for meeting with me prior to today's hearing and i really look forward to working with you. i'm pleased that on the national level we have submitted to ensuring our first responders reap the benefits of new technologies by providing them with public safety network known as first net. and if done correctly, this will ensure seamless communication for public safety all over the country enabled with the latest data, video, radio and wireless capabilities possible. as you know and as we've discussed, new hampshire is a state with unique connectivity challenges given our rural areas and mountainous terrain. i will take my mountains over west virginia's, no offense to my west virginiaen colleagues, but companies in the granite state have been exploring alternatives to the national plan so that

cantwell: i rise to join my colleagues on the senate floor and i thank the senator from washington for her leadership on this issue and to join my colleagues in voicing strong opposition and deep concern to religious 43 -- to h.j. res. 43, a resolution of disapproval. this resolution would threaten access to health care for thousands of women and families in the state of washington and millions of people across the nation. h.j. res. 43 would make it easier for states to discriminate against health care providers who serve low-income and vulnerable patients under title 10 of the public health services act. title 10 is the only federal funding program dedicated to supporting the family safety net and is widely supported by the public. when it was enacted and is stily strong bipartisan support. so despite my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, this issue is something that all my colleagues should make sure that we are not taking away access to health care. my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are -- also in the house, and i know my colleague, the senior senator from washing

senator cantwell, senator carper, senator menendez, senator murray, noun of them opposed judge gorsuch's confirmation to the tenth circuit court. senator reed, senator wyden, all of them are here today. none of them objected to neil gorsuch. it's even more than that. then senator barack obama did not object to judge gorsuch's confirmation. then senator hillary clinton didn't object to judge gorsuch's nomination. and then senator joe biden helped pass his confirmation, his appointment, make sure it cleared on a voice vote. and so to hear the partisan bickering here is extremely disappointing and disingenuous. and so i hope this chamber will do what we do best in this country and that's come together on issues of doing our job of confirming a supreme court justice after spending the past several months complaining that the supreme court wasn't filled. this judge should receive bipartisan support as it did 11 years ago. and i guess the question has to be asked to people who are now opposing judge gorsuch today who either supported or did not object to him 11 years ago, did they not do their

colleagues as cosponsors of this legislation, including senators baldwin, blumenthal, booker, brown, cantwell, coons, duckworth, durbin, feinstein, franken, gillibrand, harris, heinrich, hirono, kaine, markey, menendez, merkley, murphy, murray, sanders, stabenow, udall, van hollen, wyden and warren. in the house of representatives, the bill's principal sponsor is senator conyers. it is needed now more than ever before. and i say that for many reasons, one of which is that we have seen a large increase in hate crimes in our community. yesterday i was on the phone with a father from hartford county, maryland, whose son was the victim of a hate episode related to that person's religion and ethnic background. we've seen in our community a large increase in hate crimes against the jewish community. there has been a lot of bomb threats that have been called in to jewish schools and to the jewish community center, and we have seen physical attacks and desecration of cemeteries. so the minority community feels threatened. and, mr. president, that's been escalated as a result of the actions of our pre

. >> senator cantwell. >> thank you for being here and congratulations on the nomination. since i know you are familiar in the kennedy i can throw a lot at you at one. number one, i want to know whether you support the expt import bank and the concept the credit agency for the united states and whether the president should appoint people to get it functioning at the level it should. number two, will you be aggressive in getting the europeans to stop subsidizing wind you know the wto found that the $17 billion of it legal subsidies brings the total of the european subsidies to about 22 billion. i want to know if you are going to be aggressive on that. our colleagues in the trade facilitation enforcement act included an authorization for 15 million in the trade enforcement trust fund and the was about making sure that we had ample support within the ustr to fight for trade enforcement. they are selling u.s. products and i was happy the last administration had the goal of doubling exports. but i also know that we need to have the personnel. so do you support the enforcement t

senator next and then senator cantwell. >> congratulations on your nomination. since i know you're a former, well familiar with this committee, i'll throw a lot at you. so thank you. do you support the export/import bank and the concept of credit agency for the united states and whether the president should immediately appoint people to get it functioning at the level it should? number two, will you be aggressive in getting yoeuropea to stop with the air bust? you know the wto found the aerospace sector $17 billion of illegal subsidies. that brings the total of illegal subsidies to about $22 billion so i want to know if you'll be aggressive on that. our colleagues here in the trade facilitation and trade enforcement act include an authorization for $15 million in trade enforcement trust funds to make sure we have ample support within ustr to actually fight for trade enforcement. i believe in an economy outside of the united states selling u.s. products. in fact, i have very happy the last administration had a goal of doubling exports, but i know that we also nee

senator susan collins had a bill with senator cantwell. senator alexander had a bill, i think senator graham was even working on one. there were a considerable number of them. we didn't have agreement on that issue yet but there was activity. people were talking. the legislative process was going forward. the citizens united decision was decided in january 2010. the fossil fuel industry asked for that decision to be rendered, expected it to be rendered and moved incredibly rapidly to take advantage of its new opportunities. and from that moment forward, there has not been a single comprehensive piece of legislation with a republican co-sponsor related to carbon dioxide emissions. that industry is defending, according to the international monetary fund, a $700 billion a year subsidy. so the amount of weight they can throw behind trying to stop any effort to interfere with their current status quo goes beyond almost any reasonable number to spend in politics. so just bear that in mind as you go forward that in my view, citizens united did no

cantwell: mr.president, i rise today to speak about the nomination of congressman ryan zinke to be secretary of interior. the secretary of interior is one of the most important jobs in the federal government, and even more so for people in the west. i know the

senator susan collins had a bill with senator cantwell. senator alexander had a bill, i think senator graham was even working on one. there were a considerable number of them. we didn't have agreement on that issue yet but there was activity. people were talking. the legislative process was going forward. the citizens united decision was decided in january 2010. the fossil fuel industry asked for that decision to be rendered, expected it to be rendered and moved incredibly rapidly to take advantage of its new opportunities. and from that moment forward, there has not been a single comprehensive piece of legislation with a republican co-sponsor related to carbon dioxide emissions. that industry is defending, according to the international monetary fund, a $700 billion a year subsidy. so the amount of weight they can throw behind trying to stop any effort to interfere with their current status quo goes beyond almost any reasonable number to spend in politics. so just bear that in mind as you go forward that in my view, citizens united did no

not minority leader schumer, not senator leahy, is not senator feinstein, is not senator cantwell, carper, menendez, nelson, is not senator reed, is not senator stabenow, and not senator wyden. his nomination also was not opposed by then-senator barack obama. it was not opposed by then-senator joe biden. and it was not opposed by then-senator hillary clinton. this level of support for the other party's nomination is almost unheard of in today's political climate. but now these very same colleagues are vowing to break 230 years of senate tradition to dispense with 230 years of precedent to joint a partisan filibuster of a nominee who has the right judicial temperament and holds mainstream views that are supported by the constitution. throughout the confirmation hearing process we heard judge gorsuch talk about the over 2,000 opinions that he was a part of, 2,700 decisions that he was a part of, and i believe he testified before the committee that he joined the majority in 97% of that's opinions. that's somebody who sounds to me like a person who could receive the unanimous support of the s

. >> senator cantwell. >> thank you mr. chairman thank you for the commissioners for being here. chairman pai or to ask you about media consolidation and obviously if we needed an advertisement for why we need to have diverse sources of media, this is it so i wanted to get your thoughts on the cross-ownership issue of tv stations and radio stations owning newspapers and what direction we should be going in. >> thank you for the question senator. in some cases they've been on the hooks for several decades of the fcc has to determine do they remain in the public interest in the current year? one of my concerns especially in the smaller markets is newspapers and broadcast tv and radio stations are struggling. are there ways that we can help them stay in business and do what they do best which is cover local news and if it's more efficient for them to be able to distribute the news on different platforms that could help them stay in business and provide a vital source of information for localities. there are other considerations in terms of the consolidation we have to take into acco

cantwell: thank -- the presiding officer: without objection. ms. cantwell: thank you, mr. president. i come to the floor to talk about the housing crisis in america and the legislation that will be reintroduced myself by myself, senator heller, senator schumer, senator murkowski and several other colleagues later today. the reason why we're introducing this important legislation is to say that we need to increase the tax credit for affordable housing in the united states. we're saying that because we know from reports and statistics that we have a housing crisis in the united states of america and unless we increase the affordable housing tax credit, we're not going to see much more new supply. that is because 90% of the affordable housing built in the united states of america is built with a tax credit. today we're also releasing a report that is showing that the demand for affordable housing is exploding and that construction is definitely not keeping pace. we're showing that seniors and veterans are at greater risk for homelessness and about 60% increase in the need for

cantwell: speaking in opposition to the perry nomination, i would say this. we need an energy secretary for the 21st century, one that will help us by fighting for an electricity grid and the cyber security that will make our entire internet economy safer and more reliable, and we need one who will invest in an energy efficiency strategy that will save our businesses money that will help make them competitive. we've had the last two presidents making energy efficiency a key priority. president bush by advocating for plug-in vehicles and president obama who made a major investment in smartgrid and taking the efficiency to the rest of the nation and creating clean energy jobs. governor perry has not committed to those same principles that are going to move us towards those 21st century jobs. we don't want to leave this part of the our economy left behind. i encourage my colleagues to oppose his nomination. the presiding officer: all time has expired. the question is on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the ro