cornyn: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to waive the mandatory quorum call with respect to the cloture vote at 11:00 a.m. this morning. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president i'm an optimistic person. as a matter of fact i think everybody from texas is an optimist. can you imagine the challenges that people have that founded our state indians wide open hostile territory, tough weather, but they persevered because they were optimists and they thought the fight was worth the struggle. they thought the goal and the accomplishment the hoped-for accomplishment was worth the struggle. so i'm still -- i still remain optimistic despite the last few weeks that would challenge that optimism that we will actually break through hear and get to consider and vote on the justice for victims of trafficking act and get help to the people that the majority leader, senator mcconnell, described. the children who cannot help themselves. i mean, for heaven's sake, if we can't help t

cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president i want to speak briefly in support of the remarks of the senator from maine and the senator from vermont. the cornyn approach on runaway and homeless youth excludes language that would prohibit -- prohibit -- discrimination against the recipients of these services because of their sexual orientation. how can we have reached that point in the united states senate? haven't we engaged in a national debate that centered on indiana and other states? haven't we decided in america that regardless we are not going to allow discrimination against people because of sexual orientation? sadly, this cornyn amendment excludes language that prohibits discrimination against lgbt youth. and second-degreely to fund the $10 million-a-year program the senator from texas is eliminating a $10 billion health prevention fund that serves 50 states to deal with infectious disease and serious health issues. this is, sadly an

i'm sure senator cornyn would say the same thing. i believe there is more we can d and must do when it comes to strengthening women'sg access toal quality health care but i'm very pleased that senator cornyn andf i along with number of other senators on our side, including senator klobuchar were able to work together in a bipartisan way to get this done.an and i want to thank him and all of his colleagues for their work to get us to this point. i hope we can get this legislation nooww passed very quickly, for survivors and move on to continue working together on the many challenges our country, our country pace faces. i thank you. i yield the floor. >> mr. president? p >> senator from minnesota.ro >> mr. president i'm very happy today,py when we have reached a an agreement and i want to thank senator murray for her leadership, senator reid, senator mcconnell and senator cornyn, the two of us, have worked on this issue for years. and finally we're going to be able to move these reallyy important bills forward. whats this compromise, d

cornyn: mr. president i came to the floor to talk about the work of the senate and particularly the justice for victims of trafficking act but i would say to my -- my colleague and friend who i have worked with on so many important issues that i also look forward to once we get past today's business that we look forward to working together with you on patent reform, criminal justice reform. also to continue our i think very productive partnership on open government and transparency particularly freedom of information act legislation. but, mr. president before i talk about the justice of victims of -- for victims of trafficking act, i have to note it's my responsibility, my duty, my honor to note that today is a very important day in texas. this is the san jacinto day. this is the official state holiday that honors texas independence where 910 soldiers led by general sam houston won the decisive battle of the texas revolution. so it's not the battle of the alamo that gave texas its independence. t

cornyn: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of h. con. res. 9 which is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: house concurrent resolution 9 authorizing the use of emancipation hall and the capitol visitor center for are a ceremony as part of the commemoration of the days of remembrance of the victims of the holocaust. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i'd ask unanimous consent the concurrent resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president be, i now ask unanimous consent -- mr. president, i now ask unanimous consen

cornyn would say the same thing. there is more that we can and must do when it comes to strengthening women's access to quality healthcare but i am pleased sen. cornyn and i want with a number of others including senator clover chart, were able to work together in a bipartisan way to get this done. i would like to thank him and all of his colleagues. i hope that we can get this legislation passed quickly for survivors and move on to continue to work together on the many challenges our country's face defend our country faces. thank you. faces. thank you. i yield the floor. >> mr. president. >> senator from minnesota. >> mr. pres., i am happy we have reached an agreement and want to thank senator murray for her leadership, senator reid, mcconnell, and cornyn. we have worked on this issue for years and finally will be able to move these important bills forward. what this compromise does is set up to funds. funds. the 1st uses senator cornyn's funds which is fees on perpetrators, things like shelters law enforcement thin

cornyn. mr. cornyn. mr. cornyn no. mr. thune. mr. thune no. mr. burr. mr. burr no. mr. isakson. mr. isakson no. mr. portman. mr. 30r9man no. mr. toomey. mr. toomey no. mr. coats. mr. coats no. mr. haller. mr. haller no. mr. scott. mr. scott no. mr. wyden. mr. wyden no. mr. schumer. mr. schumer aye. miss stabenow. miss stabenow aye. miss cantwell aye. mr. nelson aye. mr. menendez ez aye. mr. carper no. mr. cardin. mr. cardin aye. mr. brown aye. mr. bennett. mr. bennett aye. mr. casey. mr. casey aye. mr. warner. mr. warner no. mr. chairman. the chairman votes no. mr. chairman, the final tally is nine ayes, 17 nays. >> the amendment is defeated. are we getting close to the end here? senator burr, you're next. >> mr. chairman, i'd like to call up portman number 2, and that's committee number 88. and i'll say to the chairman, he will not love me like he loves senator bennett because i will have to have a recorded vote on this. but i will be very brief. and i have great affection for the chairman and for the tax he's got in front of him. i thank my colleagues for their support. on the cus

lynch, in 2017 president john cornyn. could that president using prosecutorial discretion announced that the announced that -- announce that the federal government will no longer enforced any federal environmental laws or any federal labor laws against any citizen of the state of texas? she refused to answer that question. in my view, when you have an attorney general nominee who looks at the united states senate and says he or she will not enforce any constitutional limits whatsoever on the power of the president, there is no way in good conscience and consistent with your oath to confirm surgery nominated. >> last question, because a young couple is getting married at 5:00 in this room. senator cruz: wonderful. >> senator, if you were sitting in the white house right now what specifically would you do in order to deal with the islamic threat throughout the middle east, islamic state specifically? senator cruz: yes, a terrific question, what would i do in the white house right now to deal with isis. we need a clear eyed

cornyn: mr.president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president i just want to say very briefly because i know the distinguished chairman of the finance committee is here to speak on an important matter, but i want to express my gratitude to the majority leader for his determination to see this justice for victims of trafficking act come to completion here in the senate, which it will do this afternoon. it would not have happened without his determination to make it happen. mr. president, i withdraw my amendment number 1120 and offer amendment number 1124. the presiding officer: the amendment is withdrawn. and the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: the senator from texas, mr. cornyn, for himself and mrs. murray proposes an amendment numbered 1124. strike section 101 -- mr. cornyn: mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent that further reading of the amendment be dispensed. with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: i will be back to spea

we sent over to senator cornyn. descent probably as many our way so both sides have hunkered down and staring one another down. there's an honest effort to find a solution. this solution would not be a vote that event scheduled for 11:00. it's the old language that they are working on new language and i hope they reach a point in where we can achieve that. we all agree human trafficking should stop and victims should be compensated. i yield the floor. >> mr. president? >> the senator from connecticut. >> thank you mr. president. i rise with regret because unfortunately we remain divided and there is so much common ground here so many good ideas in this bill, so much that unites us. we have so much more in common than in conflict on this bill and the justice for victims of trafficking act has some so much work by great colleagues senator cornyn and senator klobuchar senator murray and senator feinstein and my colleague from illinois who just finished speaking. i'm proud to be a co-sponsor of this bill. we are divided

cornyn: mr. president i'd ask unanimous consent that the senator from minnesota and i be permitted to speak for up to one minute each prior to vote on final passage. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. klobuchar: thank you very much mr. president. i first want to thank senator cornyn. this has been a long journey. we have been working on these bills for over a year. i want to thank senator leahy and senator grassley for their leadership on the judiciary committee, senator murray for her work in negotiating this agreement and working with us, as well as so many people that have been involved in this bill. through the last month i think every so often people have forgotten what this really is about. this is about victims of sex trafficking, average age 12 years old. not even old enough to get their own driver's license. not even old enough to go to high school prom. yet this is happening all over the country, from the oil patches of north dakota to the suburbs of minne

cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president i ask that the quorum call be rescinded. the presiding officer: without objection. morning business is now closed. under the previous order the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, alfred h. bennett of texas to be united states district judge for the southern district of texas. mr. cornyn: i yield back all remaining time. the presiding officer: without objection. all time is yielded back. mr. cornyn: i'd ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be a sufficient second. the clerk will now call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: have all senators voted? any senator wishing to change their vote? if not on this vote the ayes are 95, the nays are zero, the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table. the president will be immediate

cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be rescinded. the presiding officer: the majority whip is informed that the senate is not in a quorum call. the senator is recognized. mr. cornyn: i thank the chair. mr. president, hopefully this afternoon we will take up a very important piece of legislation that will be coming over from the house of representatives that received an overwhelming vote of republicans and democrats alike a package negotiated at the highest levels of the house leadership between speaker boehner and his staff and nancy pelosi and her staff. what could it be that brings the political parties and the leaders of the parties in the house together to try to build a consensus and come up with a solution? well, it is really to right a wrong or remedy a mistake that congress made back in 1997. basically at that time congress decided in order to save money on health care costs that it would begin periodically to cut the amount of money that was reimbursed to

what my friend, the republican leader failed to mention is that if the cornyn amendment or the cornyn language were adopted, it would change women's reproductive rights permanently. you see the hyde amendment is always applied to taxpayer-funded money. what senator cornyn, the author of this bill and this amendment want to do, is to direct this to private money. they are two totally different things. hyde has never ever in the past applied to private money nontaxpayer dollars. so that's why my friend's argument is totally illogical illogical. it has no basis in fact. we are not going to stand by to enlarge this so-called hyde amendment to private money. now, mr. president, we have tried, we have tried. ten different offers have been made to senator cornyn, senator mcconnell to work our way through this. there are many ways that we can handle this, but they feel, my friend the republican leader and the assistant republican leader feel that this is their opportunity to broaden hyde, and we're not going to allow that to happen. it would be wrong. we have made ten separate offers of ways

senator cornyn justice cornyn is next. >> good morning, miss lynch. >> good morning new york stock exchange congratulations again to you on your nomination. thank you for coming, i guess last friday, to visit about this hearing and and i should say congratulations to you for an outstanding career as united states attorney. the challenge i think that people have when they come to washington d.c. and they assume jobs that have political implications is that they sort of forget their basic mooring in the law and they become politicians, masquerading as law enforcement officers. that is a real challenge. and i won't claim it is only a challenge for democrats. it has been a challenge for republicans as well. but, i am concerned, let me for senator schummer's benefit, let me stipulate you're not eric holder, are you? >> no, i'm not sir. >> so no one is suggesting that you are. but of course, attorney general holder's record is heavy on our minds now and i agree with the chairman, about his concerns when the attorney general refers to himself as the president's wing man suggesting that he is not,

senator cornyn: that's what this hearing is about. but it's particularly difficult to be effective when the administration continues to sabotage its own efforts by embracing unconstitutional policies like the president's executive action. 22 times the president of the united states said he didn't have the authority to do what he did and now we have of course, as you know, an injunction preliminary injunction in place issued by federal district judge in brownsville. obviously the stay is on appeal to the fifth circuit, but i'd like to just refresh your memory and ours, what the court said when it issued the preliminary injunction. so this court finds that dapa, that's the name given to the program, the executive action -- the court finds that dapa does not simply constitute inadequate enforcement. it's an announced enforcement of nonenforced laws that contradicts congress' statutory goals. it does not adopt mere inadequacy. it is complete abdication. the department of homeland security does have discretion in the manner in which it cho

cornyn: mr. president for the last several weeks, we have been trying to get unstuck on an important piece of legislation that would combat modern-day slavery. at a time when -- when i think most people are unaware of this phenomenon of sex trafficking primarily of teenaged girls between the age of 12-14 i think the country has become much more aware about this scourge, this dark side to our culture and our society and much more interested in trying to figure out what we can do to address it. you know, at a time when we are really beginning to see some true bipartisan cooperation and progress here in the senate, and i say that because of things like the budget we passed last night was a very, very important piece of legislation we passed to reform medicare particularly to improve access, for our seniors to medicare services performed by doctors and hospitals, by making sure that they had a predictable and sustainable reimbursement rate. what happened yesterday in the foreign relations committee w

senator cornyn: good morning secretary johnson. the chairman said you have a very difficult job, and i think that's an understatement, but notwithstanding the difficulties of the job either that you have or that we have, all of us must be held accountable for the way we discharge our responsibilities. that's what this hearing is about. but it's particularly difficult to be effective when the administration continues to sabotage its own efforts by embracing unconstitutional policies like the president's executive action. 22 times the president of the united states said he didn't have the authority to do what he did, and now we have, of course, as you know, an injunction preliminary injunction in place issued by federal district judge in brownsville. obviously the stay is on appeal to the fifth circuit, but i'd like to just refresh your memory and ours, what the court said when it issued the preliminary injunction. so this court finds that dapa, that's the name given to the program, the executive action -- the court finds that dapa d

lynch, in 2017 president john cornyn. could that president using prosecutorial discretion announce the federal government will no longer enforce any federal environmental laws or any federal labor laws against any citizen of the state of texas? she refused to answer that question. in my view, when you have an attorney general nominee who looks at the united states senate and says he or she will not enforce any constitutional limits whatsoever on the power of the president, there is no way in good conscience and consistent with your own to vote to confirm such a nominee. >> last question, because a young couple is getting married at 5:00 in this room. senator cruz: wonderful. >> if you were sitting in the white house right now, what specifically would you do in order to deal with the islamic threat throughout the middle east, islamic state specifically? senator cruz: terrific question, what would i do in the white house right now to deal with isis. we need a clear eyed commmander in chief who sets the objective is not to w

senator cornyn. senator cornyn: thank you, mr. chairman. i come from a state that in 2013 counted an estimated 1.1 million jobs associated with trade. just the binational trade with mexico is estimated to support as many as six million jobs in the united states. and in terms of its impact on small and medium-sized businesses and the people they employ, 93.1% of the trade jobs were small and medium-sized enterprises with less than 500 employees. i actually believe that one reason why texas has done better than the rest of the country in terms of its economy and jobs is in large part been because of trade. we led the nation in overall exports since 2002 in beef cotton, petro chemicals, machinery and high-tech electronics. in 2014 alone, texas manufacturers and farmers set new records of exports with nearly $290 billion worth of merchandise to buyers around the globe. so i believe that this trade promotion authority proposal that we'll mark up tomorrow is -- represents real progress. the challenge i think we have is if absent a trade promotion

cornyn. the senator from utah, mr. hatch. the senator from wyoming, mr. barrasso. the senator from missouri, mr. blunt. the senator from mississippi mr. economicer. the senator from tennessee, mr. corker. the senator from illinois, mr. durbin. the senator from washington, miss murray. the senator from maryland, mr. cardin. and the senator from hawaii -- the senator from hawaii, ms. hirono. the speaker: members of the escort committee will leave through the lobby doors. >> mr. speaker the acting dean of the diplomatic corps. >> mr. speaker, the president's cabinet. >> mr. speaker the prime minister of japan. the speaker: members of congress i have the high privilege and the distinct honor of presenting to you his excellency shinzo abe prime minister of japan. prime minister abe: mr. speaker, mr. vice president distinguished members of the senate and the house, distinct guests, ladies and gentlemen, back in june, 1957 my grandfather standing right here as prime minister of japan began his address by saying and i quote it is because of our strong belief in democratic

cornyn? >> no by proxy. >> mr. cornyn no by proxy. mr. thune? >> no. >> mr. burr? >> no by proxy. >> mr. burr no by proxy. mr. isaac son? >> no. >> no. mr. portman? >> aye. >> mr. portman aye. mr. tomb? >> aye. >> mr. coates? >> aye. >> mr. healther? >> aye. >> mr. scott? >> scott is no by proxy. by the way, burr is aye by proxy. i apologize. >> mr. burr aye by proxy. mr. scott, no by proxy. >> no by proxy. >> mr. wide glen is. >> aye. >> mr. schumer? >> aye. >> ms. stabenow? >> aye. >> ms. can't well. >> aye. >> mr. nelson? >> aye. >> mr. menendez? >> aye. >> mr. carper? >> my. >> mr. cardin? >> aye. >> mr. brown? >> aye by proxy. >> mr. brown aye by proxy. mr. bennett? >> aye. >> mr. casey? >> aye by proxy. >> aye by proxy. mr. warner? >> aye. >> mr. chairman? >> no. >> the chairman votes no. mr. roberts? >> i would like to record it as aye. >> aye. >> the clerk will announce the vote. >> mr. chairman, 18 ayes and eight nays. >> the ayes have it, and the amendment is adopted. okay. are there any other senate amendments. >> yeah. mr. chairman? i would like it chan

senator cornyn. senator cornyn: thank you, mr. chairman. i come from a state that in 2013 counted an estimated 1.1 million jobs associated with trade. just the binational trade with mexico is estimated to support as many as six million jobs in the united states. and in terms of its impact on small and medium-sized businesses and the people they employ, 93.1% of the trade jobs were small and medium-sized enterprises with less than 500 employees. i actually believe that one reason why texas has done better than the rest of the country in terms of its economy and jobs is in large part been because of trade. we led the nation in overall exports since 2002 in beef cotton, petro chemicals, machinery and high-tech electronics. in 2014 alone, texas manufacturers and farmers set new records of exports with nearly $290 billion worth of merchandise to buyers around the globe. so i believe that this trade promotion authority proposal that we'll mark up tomorrow is -- represents real progress. the challenge i think we have is if absent a trade promotion

cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: mr. president i ask unanimous consent that chris stavish an education fellow and karen armitage both from my office be granted floor privileges for the remainder of this congress? the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: mr. president may i ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 15 minutes as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: thank you. mr. president, the evidence of climate disruption caused by carbon pollution is clear and overwhelming yet the u.s. senate is sleepwalking through this history. i'm here today for the 97th time to say that we must wake up. climate disruptions are felt in every corner of the globe

.>> senator cornyn really looks like he trust the president so i think he's with me on this mr. chairman.>> mr. chairman thank you and as usual senator brown is talking about a valid problem. in the past the trade promotion act in my view has been a blank check for bad trade deals and that was something that i sought to correct and is chairman hatch will tell all of you and you might suspect we have had many spirited discussions on this particular problem. once congress passes a trade promotion act bill it has been virtually impossible to stop any trade -- trade agreement coming down the road and chairman hatch and i have proposed after literally a month of discussions, months and months, and it is bicameral. there has been a change in both the senate and the house. we have proposed a new way to put the brakes on a bad trade deal. so in effect the committee will meet on a bill. we will meet for example and tpp. the committee fails to favorably report the bill for any reason, that sets in place a process to make the agreement and eligible for fast-track in tpa procedures. while w

lynch, in 2017 president john cornyn. could that president using prosecutorial discretion announced that the announced that -- announce that the federal government will no longer enforced any federal environmental laws or any federal labor laws against any citizen of the state of texas? she refused to answer that question. in my view, when you have an attorney general nominee who looks at the united states senate and says he or she will not enforce any constitutional limits whatsoever on the power of the president, there is no way in good conscience and consistent with your oath to confirm surgery nominated. >> last question, because a young couple is getting married at 5:00 in this room. senator cruz: wonderful. >> senator, if you were sitting in the white house right now what specifically would you do in order to deal with the islamic threat throughout the middle east, islamic state specifically? senator cruz: yes, a terrific question, what would i do in the white house right now to deal with isis. we need a clear eyed

then i was working with cornyn as attorney general. i had the idea in 2001 of doing a conference or a summit on terrorism and cybersecurity and a guy named dick clark was going to be my keynote keeper. the date of the event was september 12th, 2001. a little tort of prescient. but we ended up rescheduling that. but serve by way of background how fast on this issue. admiral inman former director of nsa. very good friend of mine over time. we've come a long way. to the point where this issue finally has the attention i think of the american people and the congress. i formed the cybersecurity caucus to get the tanks of members and educate them on this issue because it is so important out there. i do want to thank jim and also denise for your latest report on cyber threat information sharing that you released. it's a job well done as always by csis. i'm going to do, i don't normally do text but in this case i have been, it is recommended that i do that and then i will open it up to the q&a i which always find very, i enjoyed having a wide

lynch, in 2017 president john cornyn. could that president using prosecutorial discretion announce the federal government will no longer in force any -- enforce any federal environmental laws or any federal labor laws against any citizen of the state of texas? she refused to answer that question. in my view, when you have an attorney general nominee who looks at the united states senate and says he or she will not enforce any constitutional limits whatsoever on the power of the president, there is no way in good conscience and consistent with your own to vote to confirm such a nominee. [applause] >> last question, because a young couple is getting married at 5:00 in this room. senator cruz: wonderful. >> if you were sitting in the white house right now, what specifically would you do in order to deal with the islamic threat throughout the middle east, islamic state specifically? senator cruz: terrific question, what would i do in the white house right now to deal with isis. we need a clearer commander in chief who sets th

chairman, might i comment, senator cornyn? senator, you indicated that we would have to have 535 different agreements without fast track. mr. trumka: that again -- there's a whole lot in between there. and i suggest that the following things to improve trade promotion authority. ensure that congress approves trade agreement partners before the negotiation begins. create negotiating objectives that are specific because they are different. ensure that congress, not the executive branch, determines whether the congressional trade objectives have been met. ensure congress has effective opportunities to strip expedited consideration provisions from trade deals that fail to meet congressional objectives or will incorporate congressional and public participation. we also think that we ought to integrate this with the rest of the things necessary to make trade work: infrastructure training, and tax policy. it's not we're saying you can't have it or shouldn't have it, it's this one, the one you're considering, abrogates too much power.

on the senate floor last month, democrat dianne feinstein and republican john cornyn had this powerful>> why is there an objection to processing those amendments and allowing the senate to work its will? why can't we vote on it? >> because there are many of us that believe this is one small step for womankind. it's one battle that we can win. and we have had loss after loss after loss. >> reporter: it's an emotional issue with no resolution in sight. leaving lynch in limbo. cnn, washington. >>> up next, one year and counting since the kidnapping by boko haram of more than 200 schoolgirls. what's being done if anything to bring them home. stay with us. i love making sunday dinners. but when my back hurt, cooking all day... forget about it. tylenol was ok, but it was 6 pills a day. but aleve is just 2 pills all day. and now, i'm back! aleve. >>> in nigeria, a somber remembrance of a tragic day. today they are marking one year since the militant terror group boko haram shocked the nation indeed the world when they abducted more than 200 teenage schoolgirls in northeastern nigeria. at the

cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. the majority leader is recognized. mr. cornyn: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be rescinded. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i am happy to stand here today knowing that the senate has had a pretty good week of getting its work done, or i should say the people's work done and overwhelmingly passing important legislation that will actually help, first of all victims of human trafficking. but generally speaking, help make the lives of our constituents, the american people just a little bit better. talking about the antitrafficking legislation in particular something i'm particularly excited about the unanimous vote, 99-0 yesterday passing this piece of legislation after a hard-fought few weeks of debate. the justice for victims of trafficking act is a bill we all agreed was worth fighting for. why? because it is as important to the rich and powerful, the p

cornyn: ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? if not the ayes are 54 and the nays are 43. the motion is agreed to. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arkansas. mr. boozman: i ask for unanimous consent to speak for up to 15 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: today we honor the 150th anniversary of abraham lincoln's death. mr. cotton: on the evening of april 14, 1865, the four-year anniversary of the beginning of the civil war and just days after its end in appomattox, president lincoln was shot while attending the theater. the next morning his last labored breathing ceased. his fanatically unreconciled assassin was enraged by lincoln's achievements, his saving of the union his emancipation of the slaves his forecast as freed slaves would soon be voting, his rededication of the nation to the d

it's a bill sponsored by john cornyn, a texas republican.t creates a fund based on criminal fines that benefits victims of human trafficking. it's not a controversial concept. it passed easily through the house. when it got to the senate the republicans attached some abortion language to it, antiabortion language. saying that none of the funds could be used for abortion services. it was funny, democrats said they had not seen that provision when they passed it through the committee. when they got to the floor they said this is an expansion of the existing federal ban on federal funding for abortion services and we are not going to qualify it -- to codify. get it out of there or we will not pass it on the floor. that is where we have been to the last six weeks. host: take us to iran. we have been hearing from senator corker about the bipartisanship in the market. when is the iran legislation coming to the senate floor and remind us about what it does. guest: the timing is going to depend on the human trafficking bill. the republicans want to

this is something senator cornyn and i have a bill called the safe harbor bill supported by a lot of the groups that provides incentives that treats of victims' as a true victims and not as perpetrators for our think we can build better cases that way for testifying. can you talk about your work in this area? >> state harbor laws are the next of to help the victims of this horrible scourged for komer office has been privileged to be the way to prosecute numerous individuals who have trekked women through the eyes or deceit or coercion or even rape before they're brought to this country and forced to work your sexual slaves. it is a degrading process and one that they find difficult to escape because of a language barrier for children are held in the home country to force them to behavior and continue. some of the work i am most proud of is the efforts we have undertaken with the organizations that help against human trafficking and other governments to reunite these children with their mothers after the cases are over simic we have a number of domestic victims think 80 percent to fro

senator cornyn had a bill to certify and improve the border situation using governors and others createed, so that is part of the reason we have such a difficult time. secretary johnson i believe senator grassley is correct that we see a lack of will in your department, and before you took the office, and from the president, frankly, on down. he mentioned interior enforcement. 40% of the people here unlawfully today came lawfully and refused to leave on time. we have no real ability to deal with that and have not taken steps required by law to deal with that. on the first day the president took office, he stopped work site inspections and basically threatened agents never again to do that. he canceled and effectively ended the 287 g program that welcomes officers to betrayed by the federal officers to help them improve their situations and their ability to help. sanctuary cities continue unabated. a do not even honor your detainers. why we would not push back against that, utilizing financial incentive, i don't know. operation streamline, worked in a number of border sectors has been cu

. >> of an offer for the record of consent so with that amnesty order justice senator cornyn is next. >> end congratulations to rand as a united states attorney. coming to washington d.c. with the political implications is they forget though long a and become politicians masquerading as law enforcement officers and it is a real challenge. >> but we will stipulate you are not eric holder? [laughter] so no one is suggesting that you are but i agree with the chairman but as they referred to is in seoul says though we may and to suggest it has not exercised independent judgment as the chief officer for the country would not consider yourself to be a political arm of the white house? >> no. that would be totally inappropriate in view of the position. >> you be willing to tell your friends know if it your judgment the law requires it demand not just my friends and acquaintances but colleagues. >> that includes the president of united states. >> the application of the attorney general when presented with matters -- matters by the president to provide a full and thorough independent legal ana

. >> senator cornyn. >> mr. chairman, if i could ask you were speaking for the administration on this panel. >> speaking for the treasury. >> does the app to -- does the obama administration regard this as a poison pill? >> with the respect to the potential for negotiations, yes, sir. >> and so you regard this as a poison pill? >> we are concerned about this provision and its impact and consider it to be inflicting. yes, sir. >> i want to see this past. i believe strongly in trade and think that it is good for the country good for wages, the economy, jobs. as much as i respect my distinguished friend from ohio and regard him as an expert in this area i frankly, do worry that during the fragile compromise that the chairman and ranking member have undertaken if something is added to this legislation was jeopardized the passage and ultimately is something telepathically should not go down. if the administration, president obama and his administration regard this is a poison pill i don't know what the vote -- i don'

it's a bill sponsored by john cornyn, a texas republican.t creates a fund based on criminal fines that benefits victims of human trafficking. it's not a controversial concept. it passed easily through the house. when it got to the senate the republicans attached some abortion language to it, antiabortion language. saying that none of the funds could be used for abortion services. it was funny, democrats said they had not seen that provision when they passed it through the committee. when they got to the floor they said this is an expansion of the existing federal ban on federal funding for abortion services and we are not going to qualify it -- to codify. get it out of there or we will not pass it on the floor. that is where we have been to the last six weeks. host: take us to iran. we have been hearing from senator corker about the bipartisanship in the market. when is the iran legislation coming to the senate floor and remind us about what it does. guest: the timing is going to depend on the human trafficking bill. the republicans want to

the status quo and then we will be able to move onto the confirmation of loretta lynch and senator cornyned. we feel pretty good about this compromise. >> it seems interesting the fact that republicans have not liked the work of eric holder so much that they would then keep him in office five months longer than they would have naturally if he had gone ahead to confirm lor raet at a lynch. but there are more than 100 nominations either in committee or waiting for final votes. does this deal mean that other deals will move forward or is it just back to business stalemate as usual? >> i hope it means something. we also were able to get that medical doctor medicare issue done last week. i think in terms of this nomination, i love the point you made about eric holder chided my colleagues for this complained about him forever. now they have a woman prosecutor, renowned oversees the office with the most terrorism prosecutions and the just jed the u.s. attorney indicted six men for trying to go overseas to help isis. these are ongoing cases going on in our country and i think loretta lynch is an

on the senate floor last month dianne feinstein and john cornyn had this powerful exchange. >> why isn objection to processing those amendments and allowing the senate to work its will. >> because there are many of us that believe this is one small step for womankind. it's one battle that we can win. and we have had loss after loss after loss. >> reporter: an attorney general holder the man republicans had loved to hate cracking jokes. >> it's almost as if the republicans in congress have discovered a new fondness for me. i'm feeling love there i haven't felt for some time and where was all this affect the last six years? >> reporter: the irony there, of course is that the same republicans who couldn't wait to get rid of eric holder are the same ones delaying his departure. i talked to senate majority leader mitch mcconnell yesterday. he made it clear he's still not backing down. he said he'd bring up lynch for a confirmation vote after senators strike a deal on abortion funding. telling me quote, that's been my position for a month now and it remains the same. wolf. >> a lot of repub

senator cornyn. >> thank you mr. chairman. i come from a state that in 2013 counted an estimated 1.1 million jobs associated with trade just the by national trade with mexico is supporting 6 million jobs in the united states. and in terms of its impact on small and medium sized businesses and the people they employ, 93.1% of the trade jobs were small and medium sized enterprises with less than 500 employees. i actually believe that one reason why texas has done better than the rest of the country in terms of its economy and jobs is large part been because of trade. we led the nation in overall exports since 2002 and beef, cotton, pet trow chemicals and texas manufacturers and farmers set new records of exports with $290 billion worth of merchandise to buyers around the globe. i believe this trade promotion authority proposal that we'll markup tomorrow is -- represents real progress. the challenge i think we have is absent a trade promotion authority or so-called fast track authority we're left with negotiations on behalf of 53

latino communities in texas going back to john towers, senator john tower's the way up to senator john cornyn and governor added. it is entirely possible to get substantial hispanic votes for republican candidates but we got to try. host: some of our viewers may disagree with that you write the vast majority of americans including an overwhelming majority of republicans supports allowing undocumented immigrants to gain legal residency status if they serve in the military or graduate from college or paid a fine, have a job and learn english. guest: they may not like supporting that, but most americans recognize that we are not going to deport 11 million people. and most americans realize that we have a fundamentally broken immigration system that is not serving the needs of our economy, not serving the needs of latinos, not serving the league -- the needs of the country. and so if you look at reality and say, what do we do about it? the vast majority of americans support tough and their standards for remaining in the country that includes things like fines, pain back taxes having a job, learni

cornyn, aye. mr. thune. aye. mr. burr. no. mr. ikicson. no. mr. portman. ay aye. mr. toomey. aye. mr. coates. aye. mr. heller. aye. mr. scott. aye. mr. wyden aye. mr. schumer. no. mrs. stabenow, no. mr. nelson. aye. mr. mendez. no. mr. carper. aye. mr. cardin. aye. mr. brown. no. mr. bennett. aye. mr. casey. no. mr. warner. aye. mr. chairman. aye. chairman votes aye. >> report. >> 20 ayes six nays. >> the ayes have it and the resolution is ordered reported. ask consent the staff be granted authority to make technical, conforming and budgetary changes to all the bills reported today and without objection, it is so ordered. before we adjourn, if i could have order. if i could have order. i want to thank all of my colleagues for their participation today. and i especially want to thank senator wyden for his efforts throughout this process. we've worked very closely together and i've really appreciated it. as we noted today was a long time coming and i want to give credit for senator wyden for his leadership and willingness to reach across the aisle on these important issues. while th

so this bill was basically shepherded along the way from the judiciary committee by senator john cornyn, the number two republican from texas and he and patty murray the number four democrat from washington basically kind of sealed this deal and then kicked it up to their leaders, harry reid and mitch mcconnell. and then they basically took it through the caucus, made sure everyone signed off, because they didn't want another embarrassing problem with democrats not noticing another provision and after that sign-off came the announcement was made this morning. but really it sounded like reid in his speech this morning the deal was basically set in stone on thursday. they just needed to check all the boxes to make sure that everyone was on board. >> now burgess what happens next? you mentioned possible immigration amendments we could see attached to this before final passage. >> right now at party lunches the leaders are going through which amendments from each party they want to have votes on for this trafficking bill. i would think the expectation with any major amendments would be desi

cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: mr.president the 114th congress is just a little over a hundred days old now but we've actually seen watchet be called the world's greatest deliberative body get back to work and begin producing results for the american people. a few months into this session we've passed important legislation from a budget, we will perhaps as early as tuesday pass the first budget since 2009. we repaired something called the doc fix which maybe is inelegantly named but basically fixed a problem that had been lurking since 1997 when somehow we got the idea that you would be able to save money by cutting the reimbursement rates to doctors and hospitals. and then we were shocked absolutely shocked that some doctors wouldn't see medicare patients and some hospitals couldn't afford to build or expand in rural areas and the like. we got that off the table as well. and then i'm glad to say last wildcard we were able to pass some major anti-trafficking legislation which, of course, dealt with the victims of being

latino communities in texas going back to john towers, senator john tower's the way up to senator john cornynnd governor added. it is entirely possible to get substantial hispanic votes for republican candidates but we got to try. host: some of our viewers may disagree with that you write the vast majority of americans including an overwhelming majority of republicans supports allowing undocumented immigrants to gain legal residency status if they serve in the military or graduate from college or paid a fine, have a job and learn english. guest: they may not like supporting that, but most americans recognize that we are not going to deport 11 million people. and most americans realize that we have a fundamentally broken immigration system that is not serving the needs of our economy, not serving the needs of latinos, not serving the league -- the needs of the country. and so if you look at reality and say, what do we do about it? the vast majority of americans support tough and their standards for remaining in the country that includes things like fines, pain back taxes having a job, learning