. >> thank you very much senator gillibrand and thank you for your advocacy and leadership. we are very fortunate to have senator gillibrand and -- he were strong advocates for the childhood edition programs and i look forward to working with you in partnership as we perceive to reauthorize in the coming year. let me proceed with their other witnesses. and please introduce our first witness on a panel general richard hawley a retired four-star general in the air force who serves on the executive advisory council for readiness. and nonprofit nonpartisan national security organizations with hundreds of retired military officers committed to strengthening future generations through smart policy. during general hawley's military career he served in a variety of staff positions in the eye states and overseas commanded a group playing air force into major commands. his assignments as a flagstaff officer include duty as the air force director of operations during the first gulf war commander of u.s. forces japan principle deputy assistant secretary of the air force for acquisition

democrat kirsten gillibrand proposed a bill that would force states that don't have a system for onlinevoter registration to establish one. she says her bill would ease the burden of registering. also. she says this would save states millions of dollars by allowing voters to file their information electronically. watch out. lawyers now have permission to scan social media sites of jurors. the american bar association says it's ethical for lawyers to look at public profiles of those who are called in for jury duty. however. the association does warn lawyers against actively following or friending jurors. this is the first time the a-b-a has addressed how deeply attorneys and their consultants can probe for information about jurors. as the crisis in iraq escalates. the look at the work of u-s officials in the mideast tonight. plus. a startling new report unveils how the veterans health program is failing female veteran oh chris, did you remember to pay the dog sitter? oh i knew i forgot something... i'll just do it now. well, we're boarding. no, i'll use citi mobile. takes two seconds, be

for the senate in new york city and i told her wendy please don't run you have no chance to win gillibrand run against hillary i was the incumbent with a lot of money so in any event what i did was i gave twenty thousand dollars to wendy long above the campaign finance i love to give ten thousand for a couple i gave twenty thousand more i had no bad intentions i was swamped i should have set up a pac there are ten legal ways to do it i just did something really stupid and so i pled guilty to it and i'll get my lumps for it. but you won't be able to vote i'm just going to have to use my influence to convince others to vote yes it's terrible i was an immigrant i never thought i'd be in this position and i know i must say that i do i am more worried that with the obama guys and i'm not talking about my case as i look around the landscape my partner jerry molen who was the producer of cinders list and jurassic park right after we made the film twenty sixteen boom he gets approached by the i.r.s. investors get approached by the i.r.s. such nukes on me and yeah this is all bad stuff because i do

democrat kirsten gillibrand proposed a bill that would force states that don't have a system for online voter registration to establish one. she says her bill would ease the burden of registering. also. she says this would save states millions of dollars by allowing voters to file their information electronically. watch out. lawyers now have permissi media sites of jurors. the american bar association says it's ethical for lawyers to look at public profiles of those who are called in for jury duty. however. the association does warn lawyers against actively following or friending jurors. this is the first time the a-b- a has addressed how deeply attorneys and their consultants can probe for information about jurors. changes are coming to north bay restaurant health cards. that could have you canceling your reservations a startling new report unveils how the veterans health program is failing female veterans. and the happiest place on earth turns frightening after an in park emergency. mild temperatures by the day for the first official weekend of summer with highs just in the '50s. but

. >> senator gillibrand pushed for the cases to be september to an independent prosecutor. for that to happen the military justice improvement act was shut in the senate. >> for two decades every secretary of defense said zero tolerance, all we have seen for 25 years is disporo actsibility. a bill by senator clair mccaskill got through the senate, but the house is yet to hake it up. >> the art was posed, victim and commander, whose side are you on. >> reporter: it allows victims to decide whether to have a case tried in the military or civilian. the good soldiers can't be wuffed. >> you need one person looking from the outside. >> it remain to be seen if the independent panel agrees. >>> as mentioned the sexual assault in the military is worse than believed. hillary clinton agreed that the handles of sexual assault cases should be taken outside the chain of command. also this monday army general jeffrey sinclair was demoted and reduced in rank from brigadier general to colonel before being retired. >>> veterans say they have had trouble getting help. elections for post-trau

senator gillibrand. >> thank you madam chairwoman for holding this hearing. i'm very grateful. mr. thornton with the start of summer upon us i'm reminded many of our low-income students and children will lose access to school breakfasts and lunches that they read on and during the school year and hunger and obesity going up during summer vacation. most summer picture schist programs occur in tandem with enrichment programs that keep kids learning engage in safe during the summer months. despite these benefits summer meals reach a fraction of eligible children and many children often don't have access and go hungry during the summertime. can you talk about the access to healthy meals year-round so the children returned to the school year healthy and ready to learn? >> senator thank you for your question. one of my things as i talked to 4 million parents around the country is personal accountability and education in things that begin at home and his doctor cook mentioned earlier different people come from different stages in life. i'm one of those kids that did not have during the su

senator gillibrand pushed for the cases to be moved from the chain of demand and september to an independent posterior. a measure to make it happen, the military justice improvement act was shut down. >> for two decades there has been zero tolerance, but all we have seen is zero accountability. a rival bill got through the senate. the house is yet to take it up. >> the argument was posed as victims versus commander, whose side are you on. not that simple. >> a victim's protection act allows a decision whether it's sold in military or civilian court. the record of good soldier can not be used. >> you need one person. it's like liking from the outside. >> it remains to be seen if the independent panel agrees. >>> the problem of sexual assault in the military is worse than many believe. >> earlier this week clinton backs the bill. she agrees that the handling of sexual assault cases should be taken outside the chain of command. also, army general st clair was demoted, and reduced in rank and retoured from service. >> there are veterans that have trouble getting help. a report found that applica

you quote senator gillibrand saying: >> talking about sexual assault, and the senator said it should not be the cost of a college investigation to get raped. we have done a lot on campus sexual assault, and one thing that struck me reading your article on the brown case is there's no obligation to report this to law enforcement. >> that is lost on many people. people think if you hear about a crime or report it to your college, that the school has to go to police, because that makes sense. unless the state that you are in requires felonies to be reported to police, schools don't have an obligation, not under title nine or the cleary act, the two main law that is reality to this. >> in your piece you mention there's no way a murder would be treated this way, so a sexual assault is not treated in the same way. >> you wouldn't have a med student do an autopsy and think it's okay. that is happening with cases of sexual assault. students sit on the panel. there's a weird investigation process where there's no rape kit down in most cases. it's not how we think of a real investigation being

. >> thank you senator boozman and i will certain send -- turn to senator gillibrand. >> thank you onthe need to act for climate change. and really should listen to continue to raise the urgency of this issue. madam chairman i'm deeply grateful for your leadership and your continued focus on how important this is for families in our country. climate change is real. it is here in humans have a role to play in it. that much is clear and while that might be easy for some to continue to deny the existence of climate change we simply don't have that luxury in new york. in my state we are seeing the effects of a changing climate every single day. two and half years ago superstorm sandy devastated our coastal newark as well as new jersey connecticut rhode island and its effects were long felt on the entire coast. that was just two years after two other devastating storms, hurricane irene and tropical storm league which cut a path of destruction across the northeast. these major storms in new york over a two-year. not. that is a huge issue that we have to face. the storm of the century is sim

. >> you quote kristin gillibrand. the senator also said, it should not be the cost of a college education to get raped. again, why have done a lot on campus sexual assault on this show. reading your article on the brown case was that there is no obligation to report this to law enforcement. >> i think that's what's loss on many -- lost on many people. people think if you report a crime to the college this has to go to the police, that's what makes sense frankly. unless the state you're in requires felonies to be reported to police, certainly under title ix and the cleary act, the two laws that pertain to this as you know. >> a significant felony, not being treated as other felonies. >> you wouldn't have a med student doing an autopsy. but students sit on a panel at a hearing and there's a weird investigation process where there's really -- there's no rape kit done in most cases. it is not how we think of a real investigation being done unfortunately and victims are suffering from this and so are the accused in many ca

democrat kirsten gillibrand proposed a bill that would force states that don't have a system for online voter registration to establish one. she says her bill would ease the burden of registering. also, she says this would save states millions of dollars by allowing voters to file their information electronically. and if you're called out for jury duty watch out, lawyers *now have permission to scan social media sites of jurors. the american bar association says it's ethical for lawyers to look at public profiles of those who are called in for jury duty. however, the association does warn lawyers against actively following or friending jurors. this is the first time the a-b-a has addressed how deeply attorneys and their consultants can probe for information about jurors. a preliminary hearing is set for this afternoon in the battle over ownership of the los angeles clippers. donald sterling is fighting his estranged wife shelly sterling in a family trust probate case. shelly sterling entered an agreement to sell the n-b-a team to former microsoft c- e-o steve ballmer for two billion dol

. >> i will turn to senator gillibrand. >> thank you. the need to act on climate continue to raise the urgency of this issue. i am deeply grateful for your leadership and continued focus on how important it is for our families and country. lima change israel and here and humans have a role to play. real ande change is here and humans have a role to play. that luxury in new york. in my state, we are seeing a changing climate every day. 2.5 years ago, superstorm sandy devastated coastal new york and connecticut and rhode island and its effects were long felt on the entire atlantic coast. that was just two years after two other devastating storms, hurricane irene and tropical storm lee which cut a path of destruction across the northeast. these major tropical storms in new york over a two-year period, daisy huge issue we have to face. century asf the simply the common the storm of the year. it is not just the stores themselves costing the destruction. sea levels rise and unthreatening search effects meeting that homes sought to be safe for

reid of nevada, coons, blumenthal, merkley, durbin, gillibrand, cardin, nelson, feinstein, warren, harkin, hirono. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the measure. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. reid: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 736. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed -- all those opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: leo t. sorokin of massachusetts to be united states district judge for the district of massachusetts. mr. reid: there is a cloture motion at the desk. i would ask it be reported. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion. we the undersigned senators in in accordance wi

the amendment is cosponsored by senators rockefeller, feinstein, menendez, schumer, blumenthal, gillibrand, markey, warren and brown. i also ask unanimous consent to add as cosponsors, senator durbin, senator boxer, senator hirono, senator murphy and senator schatzment. the presiding officer: without schatz -- senator schatz. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. boomer: ow amendment woulerd enhance rules that reduce driver fatigue. this bill rolls back enforcement of these rules, rules that are based on years of scientific evidence. it's doing so without further study. it's rolling back these safety rules without public input. it's rolling back these safety rules without even a hearing. at a time when truck crashes are actually on a rise in the united states of america, it is paramount that congress do more to improve transportation safety, to improve the protection of lives, not remove an evidence-based element of reform. keep in mind that the rule the bill is currently considering suspends enforcement of what was the result of feedback from more than 20,000 formal comments submi

>> i supported kirsten gillibrand. she wanted to take it out of the chain of command. there are men who are assaulted also. >> mostly women. >> mostly women. she was a fierce advocate for it. it was not successful this time around. another approach was taken. but i think everybody on both sides of the aisle knows, if there is not evidence this this other approach is working, then we should go back to kir sstenk proposal. >> take it out. >> yes. >> i don't know if i'm at the end of my time or not. well, keep going. all right. you mentioned in answer to the question about partisanship, and gridlock, how everybody should vote and get involved because that would deny the extremes, the voice. so there is mandatory voting in australia, the former prime minister told me all about it. and that is why the extremes don't have the agenda and can't control the debate. should there be mandatory voting in the united states of america. >> no. but there should be automatic registration. i think when a young person -- [ applause ] when a person turns 18, that young person should be reg

to the table and ho ho ho help inform the work that i and my senate colleagues including senator gillibrand and senator blumenthal are doing on these issues. i am very pleased -- there is senator tester. senator tester would you like to make any comments as we began? this is the part i was going to say since they are present asked them if they would like to make any any remarks and your any remarks in your presence so would you your presence a would elect making a remark? >> first of all thank you for being here. this is an issue that unfortunately we shouldn't even have to be talking about. it should be something that's handled in a way that treats people with dignity and obviously we had problems at the university of montana. i think that is squared away but we have to remain diligent. my daughters are both out of school. i have grandkids that will soon be teenagers. >> your really old. >> i know i am. and hopefully we will be looking at furthering themselves in society by getting a degree, a four-year degree i hope. the last thing i want to have to worry about or have them worry about is

i want to commend my colleagues, including senator harkin and senator reed, warren and gillibrand who have been so active even before i came to this body in calling attention to this issue. i urge my colleagues to step up and be a part of preserving this grand american tradition of college access which is so essential to the other grand tradition in our nation of social mobility. no matter where you're born, no matter what your economic status, no matter what your color or your creed, this is the nation that if you have grit and toughness, discipline and hard work, where you can make it and we are a country who will remove those obstacles and allow genius to be made manifest. i hope that we can begin to get bills like this that are so commonsense, this idea that we can refinance student debt, to the point where we can discuss the bills on the floor and they can escape that trap, that trap of filibuster. and, madam president, before yielding too much i'd like to just -- the floor i'd like to cover another topic very quickly. i want to take this moment to spret express my deepest condol

we were both senator brown and senator gillibrand both strong advocates for the child nutrition program. i look forward to working with you in partnership as we proceed to reauthorize in the coming year. let me proceed with our other witnesses. i'm pleased to introduce our first witness general richard hol howley. military leaders for kids, which is a nonprofit, nonpartisan national security organization of hundreds of retired military officers committed to strengthening future generations through smart policies. during general howley's military career he served in a variety of command and staff position in the united states and overseas, commanded a group winged number air force in two major commands. his assignments as a flagstaff officer included duty as the air force director of operations during the first gulf war, commander u.s. forces japan in fifth air force. principal deputy sandt, secretary of the air force for acquisition and commander united states air force in europe and allied air forces central. welcome. our second witness is mr. thornton, president of the national parent

i also want to take a moment and thank senator gillibrand and her staff for their introducing senateng senate legislation to rename the post office. naming a postal facility honoring sergeant gornewicz is just a small token of our country's appreciation for a soldier who made the ultimate sacrifice to defend our freedom. in 2006, after being deeply affected by the attacks of 9/11, sergeant gornewicz enlisted in the army reserves following graduation from alden high school. from 2007 to 2008, he deployed to iraq on his first tour and courageously served our country. upon his return home to the united states, sergeant gornewicz enrolled at buffalo state college and obtained his degree in mechanical engineering. he was working as a computer designer and mechanical designer for a new york company when he again answered the call of duty, returning to afghanistan for his second tour. sergeant gornewicz is described by many friends and family as a humble leader who always put the needs of others before his own. during his deployment, he displayed this selflessness when he risked his own lif

. >> i will turn to senator gillibrand. >> thank you.e. i am deeply grateful for your leadership and continued focus on how important it is for our families and country. lima change israel and here and humans have a role to play. real ande change is here and humans have a role to play. that luxury in new york. in my state, we are seeing a changing climate every day. 2.5 years ago, superstorm sandy devastated coastal new york and connecticut and rhode island and its effects were long felt on the entire atlantic coast. that was just two years aft