carper: mr.nt, i rise in support of senator kennedy's amendment, because we need to know more about boil -- boil orders, something that i frankly hadn't heard a lot about. thank you for bringing to our attention. these are frequently used and transparency is needed on them. thank you. i yield to the gentlewoman from west virginia. mrs. capito: thank you. i pull up my local newspaper and the first thing that that comes up is listing the boil water advisories. this is absolutely needed. i think it's a great idea. i am very much in support of this. the presiding officer: the question is on the amendment. all those in favor say aye. opposed say no. the amendment is agreed to. under the previous order, there will now be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to the vote in relation to amendment number 1472. mr. manchin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mr. manchin: i rise in opposition to this amendment by senator lee. his amendment would amend the antiquities

carper: one moment, please. mr. carper: let's go back to 1:45. forget what i said about 1:30. i ask unanimous consent to lock it in at 1:45 as we said the first time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. carper: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the appointment at the desk appear separately in the record as if made by the chair. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. carper: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 186 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 186 hong kong the humanitarian -- honoring the human tehran -- humanitarian work of mendes and so forth. the presiding officer: without objection the senate will proceed to the measure. carp cooper --. mr. carper: i ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. carper: madam president, i ask unani

carper: mr. president, today is a special day. it's earth day.nd i was -- i had the privilege of being the at the first earth day, golden gate mark a million years ago. the speaker that day was ralph nader. they're -- there was a huge crowd, hundred, of thousand, of people. ralph nader made fame and fortune by writing a book about my first car. he was there speaking that day. i couldn't help thinking about how i loved my car. i couldn't believe he wrote that book about it. he actual will i made a lot of sense and certainly rallying point foses people in this -- points for people in this country realizing we're going in the wrong way regarding the cleanness of our air and water. i remember being in southeast asia on one of our deployments up the road from cleveland state, ohio. caught on fire. there were too many people drinking dirty water. i like to run outside and i know our presiding officer, a big athlete as well. i know there are days i would run outside in the 60's, -- 1960's, 1970's. even some places around the world. would be doing more d

outreach to my fellow republicans, i've talked to democrats, i've talked to my committee chair, senator carper, more than a few times. and aye talked with the white house. some of vuss been down to the white house to talk directly with the president but we've senchly been talking about how important this is for a 21st century, it has forward-look, innovative infrastructure. we agree the bills are necessary. and that the committees of jurisdiction should be the ones that force the compromise. and forge the great policies that we need to make sure that we're meeting this challenge. so for that to happen, i think also as i've lined out what infrastructure is, you can see the amount of dedicated funds to a total of about $568 billion as where we would see a great way for us to express what we think the need over five years would be in these categories. and we also have con sefment of principles of how to pay for this. some of my colleagues will talk about this. i think it's important that you know that some of the ideas that we have for pay-fors, and this would be fully paid for, and that's critic

would point to most of the other leaders within the transportation community in congress, senator carper from delaware, whoc is senatoraputa's counterpart, has a very good relationship with senator caputa. they are working together on a surface transportation reauthorization bill that they hope to move forward before memorial day, and i hope that those relationships where the senators were able to work together, house members are able to get to know each other and work together, that's important because it makes it less about politics and more about results. i think you see that with some of the personalities, certainly senator cap[uta and senator manchin. listen to what he had to say about president biden's proposal and the republican proposal. [video clip] >> infrastructure, internet is a new infrastructure and it should be, but you are talking about transit, airports, rail systems, the air, lines as far as electricity, the grid system, all of these things need upgraded. we have to make sure with a new energy system we get it to market. all of this has to be incorporated and that's wha

that trick south to see the border firsthand, yesterday democratic delegation but by senator tom carper and veronica escobar. afterwards a reporter asking escobar why 13 days after being tasked to lead on the border crisis vice president harris is not made the trip. >> you ask the president to come to the border themselves? >> we got to do this in spanish. >> vice president harris has an open invitation. >> he does need to come down here and see what is happening. they are exploiting it to send drug trafficking. >> the attorney general will join you later this hour. and more specifically what about the cartel traffic in arizona, the worst anywhere. >> hector says with border patrol agents off the border and inside micro crowded migrant facilities the criminal threat crossing into the country just got more real. >> board of regents overwhelmed with children on the border you have these types of people coming across the border with criminal records but also on the nba watchlist, in the central sector were these two men were apprehended. there are a lot of other apprehensions on the border

carper: mr. president, the senate has now invoked cloture on the nomination of brenda mallory, president biden's nominee to serve as the chair of the white house council on environmental quality. i rise today -- first let me just say thank you. i want to express my thanks and 0 on behalf of brain did a mallory -- brenda mallory, 53 senators who voted in favor of cloture so we can now debate her nomination. so we thank each and every senator who cast that supporting vote. but i rise in support of ms. mallory's nomination to this important position. this is a position a the lot of folks have never heard of. but a hugely important one. i i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the confirmation of a highly qualified nominee as well. the chair of the white house council on environmental quality or c.e.q., as we call it, may not be the first position many americans think about when they consider a consequential presidential appointment. but it is a critical body with considerable sway over our na

the same is true for chairman carper and ranking member capito.hile these two have ideological differences, they have demonstrated their ability to work together to create a bipartisan product. we want to work with the biden administration on infrastructure to update basic public services such as safe roads and bridges. we have innovated financing and private sector investment. we will be creating jobs and keeping commodity prices low while remaining competitive in the global marketplace. however, we will not -- tolerate a partisan process where only one side gets to offer input, with the end result being a liberal wish list of projects and priorities that have nothing to do with infrastructure investment. infrastructure is about as ripe as any area that we have to actually get something done of a major nature in a bipartisan cooperative way. i'm back in arkansas almost every week, and i can tell you what arkansans want. they want us to be able to disagree while also creating good commonsense policy. a bipartisan infrastructure bill is a way to de

. >> senator carper, you are recognized for your questions. sen. carper: i specially want to welcome ron stroman, it's very good to see you. a very special day, it is earth day. perhaps the greatest challenge we face on our planet today is climate change, extreme weather all over the world. a decade or so ago, -- at the detroit auto show. the vehicle of the year that year was the chevrolet volt. it got about 38 miles per charge. i was out shopping for a new car a couple of weeks ago and i think one got about 350 miles on a charge and another got about 400 miles on a charge. we have gm, ford doing remarkable things with respect to the ability to get electric vehicles out there. they are just doing amazing things. almost every month we have a discussion, gm announced earlier this year to have the largest number of electric vehicles by 2030 and a similar announcement from ford. an agreement to purchase with the vehicle rollout between 2023 and 2033. the postal service planned an initial order of 75,000 vehicles, 10% of which will be electric. that wou

senators carper, duckworth, and cardin have been outstanding leaders on this issue and have made sure members from both sides of the aisle have had the opportunity to offer amendments just as we did last week on the anti-asian hate crimes bill. we're going to continue working with our colleagues, our republican colleagues for -- on timing for a vote on the water infrastructure bill. on a topic this straightforward and bipartisan, i hope our republican colleagues will cooperate so we may finish the bill asap. we have a lot to do. the senate will also -- and i want to also thank senator capito, the ranking member of the committee, for working with senators carper, duckworth, and collins so well. the senate will also vote on a measure this week to restore critical regulations on the release of methane into our atmosphere. in 2016, the obama administration instituted a rule that required energy companies to better monitor and reduce methane leaks. the rule not only drew cheers from the environmental community, it earned the support of the industry as well. even though methane is far less

. ♪ ♪ matt: this is "bloomberg markets " and i am matt carper.ear on year pricing increases but the market reaction to the data shows investors are betting higher rise in inflation that will not be enough to slow them down. joining us to break down the numbers is barbara ann bernard from wincrest capital. thank you for joining us. what was your initial take on the numbers that we saw in the way the market reacted? barbara: i really focus on inflation because it is the invisible tax. they were higher than expected. not higher than i expected, but higher than the market expected. the market had a muted reaction because the fed keeps telling us there is nothing to see here. in my opinion it is not transitory and it is the trajectory that matters. in addition to monetary and fiscal reasons as to why we should be worried about inflation you also have this groundswell of esg which no one is talking about being inflationary and it is. amber: you kind of highlight inflation is not a destination, it's a journey. while we talk about these transitory base e

thank you so much. >> thank you senator carper.the chair now recognizes senator wyden. >> thank you very much chair warren and i think it is the story narrowly important that you are addressing income inequality through the tax code and i want to pick up on some of the issues that have been discussed today apropos of this question of the irs and tax enforcement. we were told of course in the committee that the tax gap was much bigger than anyone had anticipated and today we got additional information that -- this particular assessment. i asked the justice department to give us information about whether credit sweeps continue to help wealthy americans defraud the internal revenue serviceev even after it signed a settlement agreement to stop the practice. every time you turn around wee o see issues relating to whether or not affluent americans the fortunate few who take advantage of an undermanned out gunned internal revenue service, their words andta not mine and profesr sub our team your point here is well taken and we expect the j

carper, senator carper for five minutes. >> thank you madam chair thank you for inviting me to it join you all today. and to our witnesses. we have a number of hearings going on is important both on the floor so don't take the fact they're not here at once the wrong way. we are delighted that you've joined us today virtually and grateful to the chair for bring us together. long before senator or governor i was a house member. these two townhome meetings lots of them hundreds of them i left town hall meetings for one of the things i would do every year, so i could budget workshop in a town hall meeting, we would invite people to spend a couple of hours just ordinary citizens hoping us balance the budget. and the time to balance the deficit was quite closer to $100 billion than to a trillion dollars. i remember this one, usually we were able to make progress and find common ground and bounce the budget. they said we ought to elect you guys and bring you down to washington. but i remember this one particular meeting we are having with citizens for this workshop, i remember saying to the g

you want to clean up the climate, if you want to help mother earth, then you better advance captain carper sequestration and utilization that carbon capture and sequestration and utilization. we just haven't found a value for the carbon that we are extracting. >> pres. roberts -- pres. roberts? mr. roberts: that is exactly right. we will never deal with climate change to the degree we need to deal with it we don't deal with carbon capture and sequestration. they are not as advanced as we are. they will not take a backseat here with job creating and with people making decent wages and benefits in their country, they will burn coal, and we have to figure out a way to make coal acceptable in this environment we find ourselves way. there is only one way to do that and that is carbon capture and sequestration. one of the things i find frustrating, with respect to our movement, they seem to be opposed to carbon capture and sequestration, which i find to the very confusing. particularly when the u.s. excels at this. that is what we should be doing. >> for folks who are listening to our not deep i

democrat tom carper leading a delegation of lawmakers to see the border monday evening in washington.auren blanchard, fox news. and temperatures today on the cool side a little bit warmer tomorrow, but not a heat wave by any means, and it will go looking for rain when i see you back here after the break right now we go to ktvu rouz heather holmes with a look at some of the stories we're working on for the seven o'clock news on ktvu, plus, well, frank coming up new tonight at seven. uber is taking away some control from its drivers over what rides they accept. we'll tell you the two things that drivers will no longer be able to see. also she is a legend and icon. the tina turner is not in the rock and roll hall of fame as a solo artist. i talked with tmz about what fans can do in the next few weeks to try to change that love those stories and a lot more all coming up live tonight on the seventh over on ktvu plus c then, but first after the break the helicopter that nasa dropped off on mars is making space history with this little helicopter and its maiden voyage could mean. future want

senator carper, our chairman of our epw committee and environmental and public works committee and senator, the ranking republican, reported out a bill that would be -- that is part of the biden plan. not the largest, but still a part. unanimously. i'm going to provide it we get through the anti-asian hate bill this week, i'd like to put that on the floor next week and begin on a bipartisan note. there are a few other areas that may be bipartisan. our competition bill. strengthening america's competitive position in the world and making sure the chinese government doesn't take advantage of us is possibly bipartisan. debbie stabenow has done some good things with agriculture working with republicans on her committee. we're going to focus at the beginning on some of the bipartisan parts of the bill. make no mistake about it. if our republican colleagues -- we welcome them on amendments throughout the bill -- but if they don't see the big, bold need for change in infrastructure and climate that the nation sees and wants and we see and want, we will have to move forward without them. but our f

next in the queue senator thune and then senator carper on the web. excuse me in person and he will be followed i senator porter and senator carper. >> commissioner the last time you were here think your wife was with us and she's a native of south vietnam. thank you finding -- or finding the time for your colleagues. [inaudible] we've been talking with colleagues about the need of irs resources that include people and include technology and we have heard several colleagues say for every dollar of financial resources we apply to the irs of the paybacks is something like seven bucks. when i was elected chuck grassley had just been elected to the u.s. senate and senator wyden and i served many years in the house and the federal deficit was in terms of tens of billions of dollars a year. today it's in terms of a trillion dollars a year. when you tell us and you have and the president has said this so well for every dollar of resources we provide to the irs we get an extra six or seven bucks of revenue. the thing we lose track of is in addition to providi

i didn't see you, senator carper. you are next. >> good morning, mr. chairman. the ranking member and my colleagues who deceive you. commissioner, last time you were forced, i think you're -- before us i think your wife was with us. she's a native of south vietnam, told her we say thanks for sharing you with us. especially during trying times. colleagues, an army doctor think is on his way to fort benning. >> just promoted to major. we are very proud. >> tell him we say navy salutes the army. >> thank you, sir. >> we been talking colleagues about the need at the irs for resources. they include people, technology, money. we've heard several of my colleagues have said for every dollar we provide in additional resources to the irs, a payback to the treasury is something like seven dollars. when i was elected to the house of representatives and building years ago i think chuck grassley had just been elected to the u.s. senate. i think senator wyden and ai served together for a number appears in the house and those were years when we were measuring the federal defici

that was led by chairman barrasso and ranking member carper at the time, but it was unanimous. this legislation included provisions to rebuild our crumbling roads and bridges, improve road safety, protect the environment, and grow the economy. once again, it received broad bipartisan support and passed the committee with unanimous support. as we know, the last year has brought us untold changes, and unfortunately put this and other legislative goals on pause while we battled covid-19. but now is the time to pick up where we left off and get a strong infrastructure bill signed into law. unfortunately, the proposal by the administration is a far cry from what the country actually needs. for starters, the cost of the plan is beyond comprehensive. the nonpartisan committee for fiscal -- fiscally responsible federal budget estimates said it will cost $2.65 trillion, nearly nine times the size of the last highway bill, nine times. when talking about this proposal, one house democrat said it's going to be a kitchen sink. the founding director of the cornell program on infrastructure p

just yesterday, senator carper and cardin and i and many others introduced a bill. it's part of your plan to make liveable communities. can you just elaborate on that? there's some that say, wow, you have an infrastructure bill and you're actually using some of those funds to take down infrastructure. these are sort of things that were done in the past that are actually making it harder for communities to come together and succeed. >> yes, thank you for the chance to speak to that. and first, to acknowledge your leadership and that of senator carper and others in making sure there is legislation and work around what it would take to deliver greater equity. too often, our highway infrastructure and road infrastructure came in a very inequitable fashion, not just in terms of who was left out but in terms of people finding their neighborhoods destroyed or divided by things like the placement of a roadway. and i should add, sometimes perhaps out of neglect because it was the path of least resistance. sometimes it was even worse, viewed deliberately as a means of clearin

senator carper is the chair and i am a ranking member. we got a 20-0 vote. be depended not on the senate floor next week. we are going to be doing it the old-fashioned way. amendments, talking about it, seeing where we can get a bipartisan 60 boat threshold to be able to get this moved out. and then we can say we have got some movement here in infrastructure. for those who have dissed the plan, i think it is too often in washington -- people don't even see what you are talking about. they just naturally assume it is nothing that they would like. i think that is where a lot of the reaction comes from. that bothers me. >> john: sometimes i have heard that you have to pass these things to find out what is inside them. >> i wouldn't endorse that strategy. we have done that before. the one a lot of people have done that before. and then pass all those other things that the democrats want to put into their infrastructure bill to reconciliation. what do you say about that? >> well, i have talked with chris cannon's more than a few times. this is step one in the dir

i'm speaking all the time with senator carper, the leading democrat on epw.n to the white house together to talk about this. there are ongoing talks. i think the expansive definition of infrastructure that we see in this green new deal wish list is called to question. i don't think the american people when they think of infrastructure are thinking of home health aides and other things included in this bill. >> dana: i was thinking if they want to redefine what bipartisan is, it could work both ways. right now you could say there is a strong bipartisan majority in america strongly disagrees or disapproves of the way biden is handling the border. so that could work both ways on them. take a listen to chris christie talking about this very thing. how do you define it but ask you if that will really matter to people in your constituents who might want to see some of this progress? watch. >> right. >> you cannot call a $400 billion plan to force unionization in states to say that taking care of increasing medicaid payments in states is infrastructure. this the is

scheduled you for half an hour ago that you were delayed because of consideration of a bill you and tom carperillion but we would pass that. and republican response last night tim of south carolina said democrats don't have a lot of appetite for working with republicans. listen here. >> republican support everything you think of when you think of infrastructure. roads, bridges, ports, airports, waterways, high-speed broadband. we are in for all of that. but again, democrats want a partisan wish list. they won't even build bridges to build bridges. >> they won't even build bridges to build bridges. there's a lot of democrats particularly in the house saying my way or the highway senator. >> i think as you know when you have the majority and you have the presidency, you have the ability to really bypass the other party in some ways. but for some good reason, i think the history of us working together on infrastructure and the fact that the committees are able to work these bills. you mentioned the wastewater, drinking water bill that will get over him big numbers today with senator parker and i

carper: i rise to speak in support of senate resolution 14, which we will vote on later today. i want to thank senator heinrich, senator markey and senator king. i understand when you were governor of colorado, you might have created the preservation of this point of view. the american people rely on the u.s. environmental protection agency to ensure our nation has clean air, clean water and a safe environment. unfortunately in 2020 the e.p.a. strayed from its mission any number of times. one of those missteps was that agency's emission rule. our nation's largest industrial source of this dangerous greenhouse gas. by passing this resolution, congress today will reject and nullify this dangerous rule and restore clean air and climate protections from the nation's largest sources of methane pliewns -- pollution. let me expwhrain what methane is and why it is so farmful to our climate. methane is a super pollutant. it damages our lungs and our planet. compared to carbon dioxide, methane is a small part of the greenhouse gas emissions. having said that though scientists tell us tha

last congress i worked with senator tom carper of delaware on a infrastructure bill. i chaired it last conference. our bill was so bipartisan that senator bernie sanders voted for it and so did i. it passed the committee unanimously 21-0. when we went to work with democrats in the house on the legislation, they ignored it and replaced it with the green new deal. that's what president biden is doing right now as well. he's ignoring the bill we passed and trying to sneak the green new deal into law. so i'd urge my democratic colleagues to reverse course, to throw out this liberal wish list, this slush fund of liberal spending and start over working in a bipartisan way with republicans. we should start with a bipartisan bill that the senate committee on e.p.w. passed last year. instead of paying off the unions and the climate activists, let's rebuild our roads and our bridges and do it in a way that works for all americans. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: i rise today to pay tribute to the life of a gentleman named alvin sykes, who passed away on

next in the queue, senator thune asked if we wait, , it would be senator carper on the web. [inaudible] >> excuse me. in person, and then he will be followed by senator portman. i didn't see you, , senator carr nicu our next. >> good morning, mr. chairman. did you see you all. >> good morning. >> commissioner, last time you will be forced i think your wife was with us. she's a native of south vietnam, place where i served in southeast asia in the vietnam war. however we say thanks for sharing with us especially during trying times. >> just better to major. repress. >> the navy salutes the army. >> thank you so. >> we've been talking, colleagues, about the need at the irs for resources that include people, click technology, include money. we have heard several colleagues who said for every dollar that we provide additional resources to the irs, the payback to the treasure something like seven bucks. when i was elected to the house of representatives 1 million years ago i think chuck rousey just been elected to the u.s. senate, and i think senator wyden and i served together f

is there any interest in the administration beyond what you told senator carper to working on enacting bipartisan prescription drug legislation? >> senator grassley, i so enjoyed our conversation and so appreciate your leadership with chairman wyden on this area on this issue. as you know i -- as i know you all care very deeply about lowering costs for patients and families. i have heard from -- in all of my discussions, how much you all care about prescript and drugs -- prescription drugs. we want to come up with solutions for patients. >> what i assume that that would be a bipartisan effort? >> absolutely. f people are interested, which i know you are, and lowering costs, the important -- importance is making sure we get this right. >> on rural health care, this is a big item for me. even for the chairman, because oregon is a lot rural as well. i led a charge to create a voluntary medicare payment program called rural emergency hospitals. it is a new voluntary medicare designation. i suppose something specifically for critical access hospitals. it would let hospitals maintain essenti

would point to most of the other leaders within the transportation community in congress, senator carperlaware, whoc is senatoraputa's counterpart, has a very good relationship with senator caputa. they are working together on a surface transportation reauthorization bill that they hope to move forward before memorial day, and i hope that those relationships where the senators were able to work together, house members are able to get to know each other and work together, that's important because it makes it less about politics and more about results. i think you see that with some of the personalities, certainly senator cap[uta and senator manchin. listen to what he had to say about president biden's proposal and the republican proposal. [video clip] >> infrastructure, internet is a new infrastructure and it should be, but you are talking about transit, airports, rail systems, the air, lines as far as electricity, the grid system, all of these things need upgraded. we have to make sure with a new energy system we get it to market. all of this has to be incorporated and that's what we cal

thanks to the good work of chairman carper and ranking member capito. this water infrastructure bill is also a core component of the republican infrastructure proposal released last week. so i hope this legislation will serve as a starting point for our for parties to collaborate on infrastructure when and where we can. at the moment, senators carper, duckworth and cardin continue discussions with republican senators about possible amendments. but let me be very clear. the senate must conclude its work on the water infrastructure bill before the end of the week. this is not a controversial bill or a complicated new program. in too many communities access to clean, safe, and affordable drinking water is not a guarantee. surely we can all agree that in america, clean drinking water should be a fundamental guarantee. the senate must take the first necessary steps to invest in communities with aging water infrastructure by passing this bill. and we must do so this week. now, on nominees. yesterday i highlighted a number of accomplishments the senate democra

carper: thank you very much. the senate has invoked cloture, and i just want to thank everybody who supported cloture on janet mccabe's nomination to serve as deputy administrator of the environmental protection agency. i rise now to urge my colleagues to support the confirmation of this outstanding nominee, because janet mccabe is exactly the leader that administrator michael regan and the rest of e.p.a. need right now as we tackle some of the most pressing challenges in the agency and in our nation's history. and she'll do so as one who understands the challenges and opportunities of working as a director of an air program within a state environmental agency to create a safe, healthy, and nurturing environment not just for the citizens of some communities, but for all communities and all zip codes in indiana, but also for the industry throughout her state. i stand before you today, as my colleagues sometimes call me, a recovering governor. i understand how important and difficult it can be to bring a genuine in

i'm proud to serve as an original cosponsor of the senate version led by my colleague senator carper. the bill was introduced earlier this year after many previous efforts with a record number of cosponsors, and i'm proud to say that statehood for d.c. is enjoying the largest support in years. the right to vote is the cornerstone of our american democratic society through free and fair elections, ordinary citizens choose the leaders and direction of our country yet some 712,000 residents of the nation's capital do not enjoy the right fully. for too long virginia neighbors in d.c. have been denied their civil rights and subject to taxation without full representation in congress, which is a founding principle of our nation. virginians love history. so on may 29, 1765, patrick henry gave his famous speech before the virginia house of burgesses encouraging the passage of the five resolutions commonly referred to as the virginia resolves to address the stamp act. the act that was passed the following day included four of his resolves. everybody remembers the stamp act of 1765 levied an un

i salute chairman of e.p.w., tom carper of delaware and ranking member senator capito of west virginia for coming together on the legislation. we look forward to working with our republican colleagues later this work period to get that piece of legislation done. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the presiding officer: mr. majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask to suspend the quorum call. the presiding officer: morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of s. 937, which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 13, s. 937, a bill to facilitate the expedited review of covid-19 hate crimes and for other purposes. mr. schumer: madam president, i have an amendment at the desk and ask for its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: the senator from new york, mr. schumer, for ms. hirono and ms. collins has an amendment, number 1445. mr. schumer: i ask to dispense with further reading of the amendment. t