and again, i want to especially thank senator heitkamp for all of her advocacy. she has done tremendous work, and i am very happy to yield the floor to her. thank you mr. president. ms. heitkamp: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. ms. heitkamp: i want to add my voice to all of the accolades that have been expressed today to senator cornyn and senator klobuchar for giving a voice to the most -- the victims of the most horrific crime that occurs in our country, and those are the victims of human trafficking. without their hard work, without their advocacy, we would not be debating this on the floor of the united states senate. and so it is, it is so important to acknowledge that work and to advance the cause by working together. today i want to speak to amendment 290 which is the collins-leahy runaway and homeless youth amendment. and i want to thank senator collins and senator leahy for being such fierce advocates for runaway and homeless youth. i have had years of experience working with victims and vulnerable youth and i can tel

heitkamp: finally mr. scuse. i know you don't have any boots on the ground in cuba, but you do have folks who follow exports closely. we believe we grow the highest quality products. cuba has a huge opportunity from my states and the states that are represented in the ag community. given that exports funding is prohibited, are you still allowed to place someone within the have an embassy that makes those contacts and begins to do that groundwork without crossing the boundary, and are you intending to do that at usda? mr. scuse: i don't believe we have an embassy just yet. sen. heitkamp: we are hopeful. mr. scuse: so am i. we can put individuals in there on a short time basis for whatever assistance may need to be needed to look at different projects or help them with different regulations that we may need. that's only short-term. long-term, i would hope that when the day comes, that we have an embassy there, that we work with the state department, and we would be able to put staff in that embassy to facilitate tr

heitkamp: finally mr. scu se, i know you don't have boots on the ground in cuba, but you have boots on the ground in d.c. that hold this closely. cuba is a huge opportunity for my state and the states that are represented in the ag community. given that export assistance is prohibited by tsr eight, are you still allowed to play someone in the havana embassy that could make those contacts and begin to do that groundwork without crossing the boundaries and are you intending to do that? mr. scuse: correct me if i am wrong. i don't believe we have an embassy just yet. sen. heitkamp: we are hopeful. mr. scuse: saw my. we can put individuals in their on a short time basis for what ever assistance may need to be needed to look at different projects or to help them with different regulations that we may need. but that is only short-term. long-term -- i would hope that when the day comes that we have an embassy there that we could work with the state department and we would be able to put staff in the embassy to he

heitkamp: finally, mr. scuse. know you don't have any boots on the ground in cuba, but you do have folks who follow exports closely. we believe we grow the highest quality products. cuba has a huge opportunity from my states and the states that are represented in the ag community. given that exports funding is prohibited, are you still allowed to place someone within the havana embassy that makes those contacts and begins to do that groundwork without crossing the boundary, and are you intending to do that at usda? mr. scuse: i don't believe we have an embassy just yet. sen. heitkamp: we are hopeful. mr. scuse: so am i. we can put individuals in there on a short time basis for whatever assistance may need to be needed to look at different projects or help them with different regulations that we may need. that's only short-term. long-term, i would hope that when the day comes, that we have an embassy there, that we work with the state department, and we would be able to put staff in that embassy to facilitate trade

heitkamp: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. ms. heitkamp: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. heitkamp: mr. president i rise today again to speak about and honor our nation's and north dakota's vietnam veterans and specifically these brave service members who gave the ultimate sacrifice through doing this honoring through my continuing series of floor speeches. we are in the midst of a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the vietnam war. this special period of honoring our vietnam veterans runs through 2025. i've partnered with students from bismarck high school in researching these soldiers and once again i want to thank their instructors r laurie fortie, sarah reenis and allison wendell for coordinating this project and sharing students research with my office. last month i visited these students and was so impressed with their commitment to this project, so i want to say thank you again to the bismarck high

and congress had the pleasure of visiting with senator levin and senator heitkamp. memorable visit with carl levin. we sat in the parking lot and listen to the opening game in minnesota. the tigers beat the twins. i won't forget that. great day. great day. the northern borders include north and south down flows of drugs. other trends national committee and potential exploitation by terrorists. since 9/11 with increased border staffing technology. for instance, 2000 border patrol agents today and that is compared to 340 in 2001. that is a sevenfold increase. the northern ports of entry have increased a third over the last 10 years. we now have several cbp drums on the northern border as well. however we can no more close our southern border of mexico. having said that we need a better understanding of the risks associated in may to implement the most strategy. we need to do this while sustaining the robust trade. not unlike our southern border, such as areas, mainland mobile towers will increase our ability to respond to threats. good intelligence and strong informat

and i'm pleased to be joined in this effort by senator heitkamp heitkamp senator hoeven, senator lankford and hopefully others as this discussion progresses. iran's government is largely dependent on its exports of oil for its revenue source. it sends oil to countries such as china japan india south korea, and the sanctions that have been imposed have really hurt. they have -- they have hurt iran's economy. they have really been what has brought iran to the table here. the sanctions that have been in place have cost the government in tehran some $40 billion in lost export revenues in 2014 alone, and this is according to the treasury department. but under the sanctions regime and the joint plan of action, countries are still able to purchase iranian oil and i don't think a lot of folks understand that. they say okay, the sanctions are in place so iran can't be driving -- deriving any forest their oil exports. but in fact countries are able to purchase iranian oil up to 1.1 million barrels per day and no surprise, countries have purchased up to that limit nearly every month since the j.p.a.

heitkamp: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. ms. heitkamp: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. heitkamp: mr. president i also ask unanimous consent that destiny whitehead, an intern in my office, be granted floor privileges for the remaining of the session today. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. ms. heitkamp: mr. president i rise today to continue our efforts to honor our nation's and the north dakota's vietnam veterans who were killed in action during the vietnam war. 198 soldiers from north dakota died while serving in vietnam. today i'm honored to speak about some of these brave men and the stories their families have shared with us. i need to credit david irbir -- irsayer -- sorry david -- of bismarck a vietnam veteran for his service and for his years of reaching out to the family members of these fallen north dakota patriots. over the past 20 years david contacted each family to obtain a p

people like senator heidi heitkamp. people like senator ben cardin.d to some extent senator chuck schumer, the senator in waiting. these are all democrats who the white house is reaching out to because quite frankly they might not back the president on this deal with tehran. butt politics are moving very quickly but none of the political alliances or the votes are final yet. >> the vote is april 18th. what will it mean if a handful or more than a handful of democrats peel off from the administration on this that the administration says could be their crowning foreign policy achievement? >> clearly president obama is tieing this to his political lag legacy. but what this would mean is that congress would have more over sight over a deal with tehran. a lot of you know, skeptdcism coming from republicans. you know, it is imperative that iran not be able to get a nuclear weapon. and they are very concerned. and you know, we heard from senator lindsey graim himself, he said that former secretary clinton would be able to reach a better deal than what presid

but there are others on the -- perhaps too many to name -- senator warner, senator heitkamp and others on the democratic side, there are those on the republican side, senator collins comes to mind, and others who've worked so hard and so relentlessly and with such determination to get us where we are today. so we need to get this over the finish line so we can move on to other business. mr. president, i have 11 than consent requests for the committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they've been approved, these requests have been approved by the majority and minority leaders. i'd ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed and that these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: and i'd note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: a senator: the senator from indiana. mr. coats: mr. president i ask that the call of the quorum be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the senate stands in recess until 2:15 p.m. loretta

wyden, senator coons senator udall, senator casey senator feinstein, senator gillibrand, senator heitkamp, senator schumer, senator blumenthal, senator peters, senator durbin to all of our democratic friends who previously objected based on the original provision, i hope they will take a look at this change because it does address directly their stated concerns. so let's get this done, mr. president. we will vote on this tomorrow, but i'd rather not wait for that time i'd rather try to get this done today if we can and we might be able to do that by agreement if everyone agrees that this provision this change addresses those stated concerns. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senate will receive a message from the house of representatives. the majority secretary: mr. president, a message from the house of representatives. the presiding officer: mr. mr. clerk. mr. hurricane i have been direct -- the house reading clerk: mr. president, i have been directed by the house of reaps to sentence test the senate that the setting forth the congressional budget for the unit

heitkamp: sen. booker: booker? sen. booker: your leadership is essential to the safety and security of our nation. it is clear that the scale differences in the challenges and threats are between the northern and southern borders. it is not the same scale on the northern border, and we understand that. this committee has held numerous hearings that focus on the southern border. i am happy that we are having one here. as you enumerated in your written testimonies, there are still tremendous threats along our northern border. the fact that it is so porous and i asked for that picture to be put up there, this vast -- over 5000 mile border, with incredibly diverse terrain has areas that are to amend is the poor's, as this picture right here demonstrates how easy it is to cross undetected, really illustrates the need for the urgency for the threat. i am not calling for any fence but also what i am looking for is a proportionate focus on our northern border threats. mr. hartunian, you illustrated the nature of these threats,

i appreciate the cosponsors senators murkowski ayotte, heitkamp gillibrand, and what this amendment will do is increase prosecutions of human trafficking without an increase of costs to the government --. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. mr. sullivan: it allows and encourages federal prosecutors to work with state officials to prosecute mann act violations and increases transparency. the key goal of this amendment is to enable the resources and cooperation between state and federal prosecutors to ensure all cases of human trafficking are pursued and victims have justice. i encourage my colleagues to support this amendment. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. mr. wicker: i rise in strong support of the underlying bill. i thank the leadership on both sides for coming to a bipartisan agreement on this, and i thank the leadership for agreeing to take the wicker amendment by a voice vote. my amendment does two things simply it extends the statute of limitations to allow child victims to file civil lawsuits against perpetrators up

but there are others on the -- perhaps too many to name -- senator warner, senator heitkamp and others on the democratic side, there are those on the republican side, senator collins comes to mind, and others who've worked so hard and so relentlessly and with such determination to get us where we are today. so we need to get this over the finish line so we can move on to

today i've introduced the federal water quality protection act, along with senators donnelly inhofe, heitkamp, roberts and manchin. that's bipartisan. it's a bipartisan agreement that says we need a different approach. this bill says yes to clean water and no to extreme bureaucracy. it will give the environmental protection agency the direction it needs the direction to write a strong and reasonable rule that truly protects america's waterways. one that keeps washington hands off of the things like irrigation ditches isolated ponds, and groundwater. one that doesn't allow determinations to be based on plants and insects one that protects streams that could carry dangerous pollutants to navigable waters or wetlands to protect those waters from pollutants. it would make sure that washington bureaucrats comply, comply with other laws and executive orders that, well, they've been avoiding. they would have to do an economic analysis and conduct reviews that protects small businesses to protect ranchers to protect farmers. they would have to consult with the states, they have to make sure by consul