durbin. >> i agree with his comments. the one element that we've been told repeatedly, these contract employees cost three times as much as civilians. so if you're eliminating -- >> that is not the goal, and that's not what we've been doing. but i will make sure that i'm on top of it and i will get back with you, but that's not the intent and that's not what we're doing. >> general milley, let me ask you one last question, a little different than some. based on your personal experience and your current responsibility, what would you say is the most encouraging news you can give us on our fight against isis, and what is the most sobering thing that you see as you consider this enemy? >> senator, i had an opportunity right after confirmation to go visit and spend some time in iraq, talk to u.s. commanders, iraqi commanders. i went back in december for a second visit and i'll be heading back there shortly for yet another one. so in my capacity as a member of the joint chief staffs, i've served many times over there, but i wa

durbin. great to have you on the program, thank you.n: donald trump is gearing up for his first big political test in iowa tonight. e*trade is all about seizing opportunity. and i'd like to... cut. so i'm gonna take this opportunity to direct. thank you, we'll call you. evening, film noir, smoke, atmosphere... bob... you're a young farmhand and e*trade is your cow. milk it. e*trade is all about seizing opportunity. jon: let's check out on once ahead on outnumbers. harris: things are ramping up in iowa where voters are getting set to pick their presidential nominees. what will the caucuses mean for the gop frontrunners. sandra: a former inspector general said she and the state department are lying about them. there was personal info on government workers and military members. what will they do about that? jenna: donald trump joins big crowds in iowa. will it translate into votes? the republican front runner faces his big test tonight. reporter: what the trump folks are say can is a large overall turnout is a good indication they managed

i would welcome your comments. >> thank you, senator durbin. i echo the sentiment that we see law enforcement acknowledging that we can't arrest our way out of the problem. it's not because they are sitting over my shoulder. we have agencies across the country who are administering the looks and when you talk about reversing people's lives. we have seen that program take off nationally where police are not only saving people's lives, but accelerating and we need not frustrate them by a lack of treatment availability that we should capitalize on their good will. despite all of the things that we have done to expand treatment, even president obama in west virginia acknowledge the fact that we probably have a significant treatment gap here. the administrator said about 20% of people get treatment. we wouldn't accept that with any other disease. the last thing i will say is we have to combine that with an increase in workforce. we need more physicians who are able to describe the medications. we would love to work with congress on expanding who can

senator dick durbin said the banks own this place. bernie, that was dick durbin., we didn't break the banks. we have even smaller number of banks, they are more powerful. i think hillary clinton has a problem right now. you didn't necessarily mention this. but hillary and bill clinton have made $150 million on speeches since bill clinton left office. and a lot of that money came from wall street and banks. my question then becomes you know there is money in your super pac's, you know you have gotten money from wall street and banks. i understand. this is about personal cash. you have to understand, if you made so much money from banks and wall street on your speeches , and so much money is going and your super pac's campaigns, how do you really have the ability to regulate them or tell them they have to change their behavior? that's a problem. host: do you think we will see transcript or video from the speeches? if so, when do you expect we will see them? guest: hillary clinton leaves the secretary of state position, and makes a little over $3 million in change. ,

durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from -- mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, every member of the senate stands in the well of the senate when they are elected, takes an oath of office. that oath of office required by the constitution is our statement to not only the people we represent but to the nation that we will uphold and defend the constitution of the united states. article 2, section 2, of that constitution empowers the president and those powers include the president's power to fill vacancies on the supreme court. it's not permissive language. the word "shall" can be found in this paragraph. and it basically says that the president of the united states shall nominate and by and with advice and consent of the senate shall appoint judges of the supreme court. for the first time in the history of the united states of america, the senate republicans are prepared to

and durbin later died at the hospital. the crash remains under investigation. >> catherine:in petaluma. police are beginning to get leads from photos of three people seen leaving the scene of a car crash on 101. police say the three people caused the crash - then ran off before they arrived. hey were in a black 1995 ford explorer. the crash happened on southbound 101 at petaluma boulevard. an eyewitness took these photos of the suspects, and we've posted them on the kron-4 news website. in yolo county - there was a rescue along a causeway. it happened after a series of crashes sent a truck barreling over a concrete guardrail. the driver was injured and was trapped as the truck began burning. it took rescuers nearly an hour to get him out. the budget moving truck had gone off the edge of the yolo causeway - landing 35 feet below. a total of 5 vehicles were involved in the initial crashes. >> catherine:new express lanes in the tri valley area are now officially open. today drivers were able to use both eastbound and westboun

had actually been quite instrumental in putting together in durbin in 2011. durbin is where the mandate for this four-year negotiation was put together. the e.u. pulled together a coalition of aggressive, developing countries, the aloonds, a group of aggressive countries from latin america and that was a very important grouping back in durbin. our main focus in durbin had been playing -- not playing but working with the major biggest developing countries, china, india, south africa, brazil. that coalition had been quieted, some voices somewhat silenced at this october meeting and i went to the so-called pre-cot meeting, two or three weeks before, three weeks before the cop. very much with the view that that coalition needed to be revived and strengthened again. i was worried that there would be -- that there are certainly some in the overall group of countries, the large group of countries, who very much preferred a minimalist agreement, just a few sketches that would then be filled out later through negotiation over guidelines and such. that wasn't at all wh

durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the assistant democratic leader. mr. durbin: mr.resident, what happened in flint, michigan, is incredible. in the 21st century, in the most developed country on earth, to think that 100,000 people were exposed to contaminated water, to think that 9,000 or 10,000 children were exposed to lead poisoning. it was not a natural disaster, but the results are disastrous. it was a disaster created by those who were in charge of managing the city of flint. the governmental agencies and those who work for them made what they considered to be the right budgetary decisions, but they certainly made the wrong decisions when it came to the health and the well-being of the poor people who were victimized by their wrongdoing. every time i hear the story, the same question comes to my mind. who's going to jail for poisoning 9,000 children? think about the circumstances here. a knowing decision by a city manager to switch to a water supply which was contaminated and endangered the health of thousands of children, tens of thousands of citizens. if that

durbin and mr. whitehouse. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. mr. franken: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to discuss the widespread and harmful impact of forced arbitration, mandatory arbitration. last november "the new york times" published a three-part investigative series on the pervasive use of forced arbitration, or mandatory arbitration, which i would recommend to every member. mandatory arbitration is a privatized system of justice that corporations rely on when their customers or workers seek justice for being cheated or injured or mistreated. this series in "the new york times" while shocking, illustrated something that i've been saying for a long time, that mandatory arbitration agreements, forced arbitration agreements which are often buried in the fine print of employment and service contracts severely restrict americans' access to justice by stripping consumers and workers of their legal rights and insulating corporations from liability. from nu

it is to the everlasting credit of barbara mikulski and senator blount, senator schumer, senator durbin, congressman walden and pallone. these gentlemen on a bipartisan basis, i think, understood at their core that once the rules are set and broadcasters detrimentally rely on those rules, you can't change them post facto. and that's what the fcc did. and the congress said, no, you don't. so i would think they would take note of that. i mean, we were one of the few substantive writers to get through on the last resolution through congress. and, you know, i think that ought to say something. the president signed it. but, again, that's their business as to how they'll respond to it. >> host: senator smith, what's your current relationship, the broadcasters' current relationship with the capable companies particularly when it comes to retransmission? >> guest: there's always an economic tension this as you can imagine, pete i were. -- peter. they want to pay less, and we believe our content is worth more. we're paid 10% of the monies coming from that are disperse -- disbursed through pay te

to the point that senator cornyn is making, and i do agree to a large extent with what senator durbin said. but if we focus on, for example, the prescribed painkiller problem, then, i think we're going to see an increased uptick in heroin abuse. i mean, it's obvious it's happened in north carolina. it's a matter of state policy. we did a number of things to crack down on drug shopping and the sort of things we're seeing in the state and there's almost a direction correlation between the reduction in the prescribed opioids and the increase in heroin use. as a matter of state policy, what are you all looking at? i'm also very struck by the fact that some states are at great disparities between overdoses and deaths. i was shocked to know that ours had gone up 480% over 3 years but it's still a fraction of what a state that's got 1 1/2 million people have versus a state that has 10 million people. so, you know, what are we doing to address these specific issues, and what risks do we run of federal policy potentially hampering what you think and your speaker and your senate leader need to

durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask consent that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, on february 13, the nation was shaken by the news in the supreme court antonin scalia had passed away. justice scalia served on the nation's highest court for 29 years, and he was a major figure on the american legal landscape. justice scalia was described by judge richard pozner of the seventh circuit as "the most influential justice of the last quarter century." over the years i've come to know justice sc scalia. we certainly disagreed on many fundamental issues, but even those who disagreed with justice scalia on legal matters still admired him as a person. justice ruth bader ginsburg, no ideological ally of justice scalia, wrote after his death, "we were best buddies." she described him as "a jurist of captivate being wit with the talent to make even the most sober jurist laugh. we were differ

take map ---se trata de "christopher durbin" de 59 aÑos y "sandra morse" de 57.ja, de los gatos falleci tras chocar cerca de la avenida camden y la calle "hicks road" en san jos. ---el caso se encuentra bajo investigacin. blanca ---podria tener mas fallas estructurales el tunel que conecta las 2 porciones del puente de la bahia. cesar ---hace apenas unas semanas, un enorme pedazo de concreto cayo sobre un automovil que circulaba sobre la via, roll stinger y ahora temen que este tipo de accidentes podria incrementar... take 2 box ---sandra bermudez, en vivo desde la isla yerba buena nos tiene mas detalles... sandra... take sandra live sandra live myeast mccauley/vocero, caltrans sandra live cesar ---revisemos las condiciones actuales del trafico en la actuales del trafico en la bahia... blanca ---pasamos con gabriela dellan... gabriela.. take gabriela live gabriela live take vo blanca ---el papa francisco hace un inusual pedo a tod los lideres mundiales... pero en estados unidos, algunos aseguran que seria dificil complacer al sumo pontifice... take vo cesar ---en

develop advanced nuclear technology, this is a great amendment led by senators whitehouse, hatch, and durbin. we placed our strong support for carter in capturing utilization storage technologies thanks to an idea from senator whitehouse, mansion and franken and we reaffirmed the need for consistent federal policies that recognize carbon neutrality of forest biomass, an effort championed by senators collins, king, franken, crapo and rich. you don't often see these large groups of senators coming together in a way that we have seen under this bill. some would look at the names and that i read, that they had anything to work on but these issues broadened together. this has truly been a team effort with members reaching out to one another, lining up behind each other's ideas. working to ensure their adoption. the best proof of that is a simple review of our bill. energy policy modernization acting clouds priorities sponsored or co-sponsored by 62 members of the senate. when was the last time we saw that level of cooperation and collaboration. 62 members. more in three fifth of the senate contri

durbin: i ask consent that the quorum call be success spengded. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin:man, the senate is cengtszly considering a bipartisan energy bill that could lead america on a pathway to rebuilding our nation's economy in this century. it has been nine years since we passed an energy bill and a lot of things have changed. the bill we're considering contains important provisions to build domestic clean energy sources. strengthen energy efficiency measures, modernize our electric grid. it represents a compliment to basic science research at the department of energy. i believe we can do more than what the bill proposes. we need more for research, the kind of research that costs too much and takes too long for any individual company to undertake. we need to invest in medical and basic science research. the investment will pay off for generations to come. i cochair the senate national lab caucus and i know if we invest in research in our national labs it will lead to breakthroughs that will help keep america competit

to the governor, senator durbin, members of the congress, former governor pat quinn mayor lang langfelder and the people of springfield, thank you for such a warm welcome as i come back home. thank you. [applause] president obama: thank you so much. thank you. it is good to be home. thank you, guys. it is really nice. thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you so much. it is -- it is great to see so many old friends like john collarson and emile jones. i miss you guys. [laughter] president obama: it is great to be in the state capitol. you know being here today calls to mind the first time i spoke on the senate floor. almost 20 years ago. and i was passionate, idealistic, ready to make a difference. just expand in the magnificent chamber was enough to fill me up with a heightened sense of purpose. i probably needed a little dose of reality when i first arrived. one day i rose to speak about a bill. i thought i had made some compelling points with irrefutable logic. i was about to sit down, feeling pretty good about myself, when pete came over my desk. there's some young people here. for t

but there's momentum i was just here on the phone before i came here with senator victor -- senator durbinand ranking member leahy and we were discussing just that, this collision of can we get across the finish line and what would we be doing to help in terms of the moving it across in the supreme court battle is supreme court battle is about to happen and the like so i'm getting increasingly impatient the last few weeks because it shouldn't take this long when we have this great of a collision. we sold the house making slow but steady progress with bipartisan leaders over there. so, i am hoping this is one of the things that is achieved in the legislation that will reverse the direction we have been going since the 80s and turned back to such a policy that's already being shown in the state. we have all these states lowering the population and the crime rate because understanding as i saw firsthand the kind try to demonstrate in the book it creates more crime and when you strip away from a person any hope they can provide for their family because remember you come out of prison for the o

durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the assistant democratic leader. mr. durbin: mr. president, i want to thank my colleague from iowa. i had hoped to get a chance to speak to him personally about another matter, but i will call him from the floor afterwards. we'll get in touch. and i'll just -- now that senator hatch is here, i don't want to delay the proceedings of the senate but i would like an opportunity to respond on this issue that was raised by senator grassley. senator grassley of iowa is my friend. politicians say that sometimes and mean it, say it sometimes and don't mean it. i mean it. we have become friends as neighboring states and sharing a lot of plane rides together, serving on the same committee, serving in the same body for a number of years. and i respect him very much. we have different points of view on many things, but we found common agreement on many other things. so i do respect him and i say that at the outset as i respond to his remarks. what is this about? this is about the passing of justice scalia and whether his seat on the supreme cour

and, we plan to hear from schumer and durbin. we will start out here with stone. >> thank you for inviting me. in a recent piece, it was proclaimed that the only rule that governs the confirmation process is the law of the jungle and there are no rules. this is misleading and dangerous. if taken seriously, this undermines years of tradition create damaging effects to the rule of law and the supreme court. when we examine the performance of the senate, it is clear that .he supreme court will defer this has been an outcome with nominations and, as far as i can sit -- as i can see, in history. aen when it is controlled by minority party or it will have an impact on the balance of the court and in the final year of a term. nominees who are qualified and moderate are confirmed. what are the rules and conditions that govern the process? it is worth noting that the senate has confirmed nominees 79% they have confirmed considered. despite handwringing over the process, there has been a consideration over time. why do some senators someti

durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the assistant democratic leader. mr. durbin: mr. president, i'd like to address an issue of vital importance to america's national security. it's the issue of reliable rocket launches, launches which the department of defense and the national intelligence agencies count on on a regular basis to launch satellites to keep america safe. there's a separate area of launches involving the civilian side with nasa, but this morning i want to focus primarily on the department of defense rocket launches. we made a decision about ten years ago that was wrong. two companies that were competing at that time, boeing and lockheed, came forward to the federal government and said we have a plan. instead of our companies competing, we will join together. we will become one company, boeing and lockheed, for this purpose under the term united launch alliance. they argued, convincingly at the time, that this was the blest way to come up with affordable, reliable launches. well, they were true -- that was true for half of the projection. they were reliab

the fact is my senator, senator durbin, senator lehy from vermont voted for closure.d no to closure and didn't allow it. it's a real special thing that does happen. the senate is a very exclusive club. here is one of the things the club allows other people to do. we were in the majority after many years of being in the minority. we went down there and pled with senators, vote for closure. we'll make the bill better. that's the way you make immigration reform. you let the senate and the house and you go to reconcile. unfortunately, bernie sanders, that day, voted against closure and went on lou dobbs program to tell everybody why he voted. he said i'm voting against it because there are these guess worker program that will be terrible and take away jobs from american citizens. here's what i say. what about the 11 million undocumented workers that this does effect that are being exploited. i thought we need to put this forward. >> that moment on that vote meant a lot do you in terms of how you feel? >> i think we would have moved so much. chris, it's not just about immi

senator dick durbin of illinois, thank you very much. >> thank you, gwen. >> ifill: now to the campaign trail, where the men and woman who would be president are in the midst of a critical week. and as poltiical director lisa desjardins reports, they've already embarked on the all important hunt for convention delegates. >> reporter: if anything, the war of words between ted cruz and donald trump has heated up ahead of tonight's g.o.p. caucuses in nevada. the charge from cruz today, in fernley, nevada: that trump can't be trusted. >> look, frankly i don't care what position donald decides to support today or tomorrow or the next day. they change every day. i don't care what they are. but pick one and defend it and don't pretend, whenever people point out what you said-- oh! never mind. >> reporter: but in sparks, nevada today, the frontrunner kept up his attacks, that cruz is the dishonest one... >> he's like a baby compared to some i have to deal with. he is like a little baby. soft, weak, little baby, by comparison. but for lying, he's the best i've ever seen. >> reporter: beyond char

i was just on the phone with senator dick durbin before i came here, one of the great leaders of criminal justice reform in the senate along with people like ranking member leahy. these are sort of the lions that have been working on this issue for a long time, and we were discussing just that, this coalition we have, can we get it across the finish line, what can we be doing in terms of tactics at the time that the supreme court battle is about to happen and the like. so i'm getting increasingly impatient. it shouldn't take this long when you have this great of a coalition. you still have the house which is making slow but steady progress with great bipartisan leaders over there. this is one of those things that will reverse a direction we've been going in since the '80s and for the first time turn back around. we have all these states that are lowering their prison population, saving taxpayer dollars, lowering their crime rate. please understand, as i saw firsthand and tried to demonstrate in the book is that this maas incarceration creates more violation, more crime. when you strip awa

hinge we had land to hear from senator schumer and senator durbin. >> thanks for inviting me here nfment a rekent piece in the "washington post" the only rule that now governs the confirmation process is the law of the jungle. there are no rules. this is profoundly misleading and dangerous. if taken seriously and acted upon this misconseppings would undermine 225 years of well settled decision and throw it into a state of partisan chaos that would damage both the rule of law and the supreme court. when we take a deep breath and examine the performance it's clear that the senate defers to the president in these matters as long as the president puts forth nominee whose are clearly qualified and who are reasonably moderate in their views. this has been the outcome in the last 06 years and the last i can discern in american history moreover this is true even when the senate is controlled by top posing party, even when likely to have a significant impact on the balance of the court. when all is said and done nominee whose are bodes qualified and moderate are confirmed. so what then are the ru

president, i ask unanimous consent that the following fellows in senator durbin's office be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the 114th congress: jeremy ward, elizabeth lawrence, carla hagan, craig crawford, who's with the judiciary committee. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. heitkamp: thank you,mr. president. again, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the prethe presiding officer: te clerk should call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mr. sasse: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sasse: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to executive session for the consideration of calendar number 465, that the nomination be confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, that no further motions be in order, that any statements related to the nomination be printed in the record, the president be immediately notified of the senate's act

number 3095 durbin. number 3125 whitehouse. that following the disposition of the franken amendment number 3115, the senate proceed to vote in relation to the above amendments in the order listed, vote with no second-degree amendments in order prior to the votes and a 60-vote affirmative threshold required for adoption and that there be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to each vote. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. murkowski: and, madam president, i would note then that there will now be eight votes, a series of eight votes when we commence at 2:30 this afternoon, and recognizing that there are committees meeting and other senate business going on, we would hope that we would be able to process these votes relatively efficiently and respecting that ten-minute vote parameter so that we can move through them in a manner that respects others' schedules. and with that, madam president, i would ... i would yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate the pre

senator durbin: i have been listening carefully to senator mcconnell and trying to find a basis for agreementprinciple he stated is something i'm interested in. he saidf you are going to fill the vacancy on the supreme court, let the american people decide who will fill it. i checked. they did. in 2012, the american people 5 ded by a a margin of million votes for four years. if senator mcconnell is looking for an indication, they voted and voted decisively on behalf of president obama. what's at stake here gets to the heart of what we swear to uphold and defend, this constitution. this constitution is explicit. article 2, section 2, the president shall appoint the nominee and the senate shall by advice and consent approve that nominee. both of those directions. they give a responsibility to the president to appoint a nominee, to name a nominee and give the responsibility to the senate to advise and consent. what are you hearing from republicans today. people who get before us and gue, we are strict constitutionalists. in this press conference, senator mcconnell said they are not going to exer

chairman corker and senator gardner and the members of the foreign relations committee, senator durbin are to be commended for their leadership in this issue and i look forward to pass legislation today that will put teeth in american diplomacy. mr. president, i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. a senator: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. hoeven: i rise in support of pending legislation to sanction the regime of north korea for its belligerent behavior towards the united states and its neighbors. today the senate takes up a bill to increase sanctions on north korea. most americans would be surprised, i think, to learn that it's still possible to increase and strengthen sanctions on north korea. in fact, while we've had certain sanctions on north korea in place for many years, these sanctions have never been as strong as they could be and should be. that's what we're about here today. we're now dealing with the third gen

and to governor and senator durbin e members of congress, speaker maddigan, former governor pack quinn, the mayor and the people of springfield, thank you for such a warm welcome as i come back home. [ applause ] >> thank you. [ applause ] >> thank you so much. thank you. certainly honored. thank you guys. it's very nice. thank you. [ applause ] thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you so much. it is -- it is great to see so many old friends like john colorton and emile jones. i miss you guys. >> we miss you! [ laughter ] >> it's great to be in the state capital. you know, being here today calls to mine the first time i spoke on the senate floor almost 20 years ago. and i was passionate, idealistic, ready to make a difference. just to stand in that magnificent chamber was enough to fill me up with a heightened sense of purpose. and i probably needed a little dose of reality when i first arrived. so one day i rose to speak about a bill. and i thought i had made some compelling points with irrefutable logic. and i was about to sit down, feeling pretty good about myself when pete philli

agoas way back 3, 4 years that senator durbin called us together to meet with the russian masseter, say, -- ambassador, saying can't we work together to come to an agreement in syria? that was the most brutal meeting i have ever been to. it was horrible. all we said was let's work together for the future of the world, for the future of the syrian people, and he was impossible. and so, frankly, i'm not being diplomatic, you have to be, but i do not. i blame russia and iran for what is happening there, for the women0 deaths of innocent and children. it is horrible. i'm going to ask you, if i have time, and i have two subject matters i want to speak about, cuba and syria. i will start off with you. -- with cuba. i am a strong supporter of the decision to establish diplomatic relations with cuba. i was proud to join you at the reopening of the u.s. embassy in , that itast august was so emotional and see and speak with the same marines, mr. secretary, who took down the flat 50 years ago who raised the flag again, and to see how excited they were to be there and to do that. and to me, it is t

in the democratic party, richard durbin, w says they will stop the bill if we don't help flint.he number two ranking republican in the senate said it's not something i could support. flint doesn't have anything to do with the energy bill. democratic presidential candidate hillary clinton and bernie sanders announced they will hold a debate in flint, michigan on march sixth. plenty of news surrounding what happened in the water crisis. i want to show you the front page of the detroit news. the headline there is lawmakers press epa and michigan department of environmental ali officials -- environmental quality officials there. flint,gressman from michigan also testified at the hearing. we are viewers about trust in the government to keep drinking water safe. i want to hear your stories and we have a special line for michigan residents. 202-748-8003. we want to hear your stories. the line for democrats, republicans, and independents as usual. new jersey, line for democrats, good morning. go ahead, teresa. what i have to say is take mr. dell tour out and his committee to a laborator

case -- [laughter] and then i think that we had planned to hear from senator schumer and senator durbin so we are going to do that sort of intermittently but we will start with professor stone. >> thanks for inviting me here. in a recent piece in the "washington post" by benjamin proclaimed that the only rule that now governs the constitutional process for the justice is, quote of the law of the jungle there are no rules. this is profoundly misleading and dangerous. if taken seriously and acted upon, this misconception that underlined 225 years from well-settled traditions and through the supreme court nomination process into the state of partisan chaos it would damage both the rule of law and the supreme court as an institution. in fact when we take a deep breath and examined the performance of the senate overtime is clear if the senate to be first to these matters as long as the president puts forth nominees to include a qualified and reasonably moderate interview. this has been the outcome of every single nomination in the last 60 years and as far as i can discern in virtually every

durbin called a bunch of us together to meet with the russian ambassador to say we work together so that there could be a peaceful transition in syria , and there was the russian ambassador, the most brutal meeting i have ever been to. it was horrible. and, you know, always says let's work together for the future of the world,world, the future of the syrian people. he was impossible. and so frankly i'm not being diplomatic you have to be. i blame russia and iran for what is happening there, for the quarter of a million deaths since we had that meeting with innocent women and children. andchildren. and so i am going to ask you, if i have time to have to subject matters i want to cover with you. cuba and syria. i am a strong a strong supporter of the president's decision to reestablish diplomatic relations. i was proud to join you at the reopening of the us embassy in nevada last august, and it was so emotional to see and speak with the same marines they took down the flanks 50 years ago and raise the flag again and see how excited they were to be there and to do that. and to me it is thro

to the everlasting credit, barbara and senator schumer, shattered -- senator durbin, thesessman walden, gentlemen, on a bipartisan basis, i think understood at their core that once the rules such a and broadcasters mentally rely on those rules, you cannot change them post fact out. that is what the fcc did and congress said, no you do not. i would think they would take note of that. we were one of the few writers to get through on the last resolution through congress. i think that ought to say something. the president signed it. but again, that is their business as to how they will respond. currentroadcasters relationship with cable companies when it comes to retransmission? there is always an economic tension there as you could imagine. they want to pay less and we believe our content is worth more. we're paid 10% of the money's dispersed through pay television, and yet we represent 35 or 40% of the eyeball. there is a disparity between the viewership and the compensation. they would like to brame retransmission for the inflation in the cable bills, but the truth is it has a lot more

immigration reform work that he did with chuck schumer and la raza and the chamber of commerce and dick durbinto these negotiations on an immigration reform bill or did he get rolled? maybe he agreed with schumer. maybe he got rolled. but maybe the strength of the performance really gives us some insights into rubio's kind of lack of accomplishment on the legislative front. just doesn't have the experience. i saw a funny tweet this morning and it was rubio, 2020. so maybe he needs four more years, i don't know. so far a little shaky. >> are we burying the lead here, laura? it looks like donald trump the most unlikely candidate of our lifetimes is about to win the new hampshire primary. i wonder if any of the guys below him on the roster are looking at the themes of his campaign and saying, hey, those are working, maybe i should steal them? do you think that's happening? >> well, it should be, right? we should be able to learn from our failed policies and tucker, you're right. if trump does not win by at least i'd say 15 points, you can expect in the media the following narrative. trump underpe

senator durbin with your new voice. >> i've been listening carefully to senator mcconnell. i'm trying to find some basis for agreement. turns out the principle that he has stated is something i'm interested in. here's what he said that if you're going to fill the vacancy on the supreme court let the american people decide who will fill it so i checked, they did. in 20 south america people decided via margin of 5 million votes that barack obama would be present at that states not just for three years or three years and three months but for four years so i've senator mcconnell is looking for some indication from the body politic of america they voted in a voted decisively on behalf of president obama. what is at stake here gets to the heart of what we swear to uphold and defend in this constitution. this constitution is very explicit. article ii, section 2. the president shall appoint a nominee to fill the vacancy, shall appoint and the senate shall approve that nominee. both of those are directions are they give their responsibility to the president to appoint a nominee to n

you talked about -- senator durbin talked earlier about the act which is a mental health parody and addiction equity act. you talked about problems with getting, having parity in reimbursement and about insurance, the low reimbursement rate of insurance. companies on this. can you talk about this area, about what we need to do to meet the needs we have of people who need treatment and what we should be doing and where we're not -- what barriers there are to meeting this need? >> i think everyone has spoken on what's needed of the medical community i think at this point. and that's the training and to increase capacity. and one of the methods by which to increase capacity, and i will say it again, is for someone to please hear that the independently licensed practitioners be allowed to prescribe medication for opioid dependence. that would increase capacity. with training that would also correlate to competency. i can't say it often enough how complex this disease is. it's not just biological. psychological, spiritual, emotional. in terms of the operational side, reimbursement rates have histo

durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i call up amendment number 3095 and ask that it be reported by number. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the number of the amendment. the clerk: the senator from illinois, mr. durbin, proposes an amendment number 3095 to amendment number 2953. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, this bipartisan amendment which i'm offering with senator alexander would increase funding levels for the department of energy office of science to a rate of 5% annual real growth for five years. the office of science is an incredible operation. 24,000 scientists, 10 national labs, research at 300 colleges and universities in all 50 states. it was their work which led to the development of the m.r.i. and they are currently working on imaging systems to identify alzheimer's in its earliest stages. it's an incredible operation. this commitment will pay us back many times over. and i yield