heitkamp: i'd ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. ms. heitkamp: mr. president, finally we see the light at the end of the tunnel, and it is not a train. it is in fact the eventual and necessary passage of the ex-im reauthorization bill. as you know, last week the ex-im bill passed the house by a vote that was 72% in favor. we have been told for months and months here as we debate the ex-im bank that this bill as a stand-alone could not possibly, could not possibly pass the house as a stand-alone bill. remarkably, when that myth was put to the test, we found out that not just 51%, but 72% of the house supports reauthorization of the ex-im bill. last night we faced another challenge for the ex-im bill which was in fact a series of amendments on the ex-im portion of the transportation bill. and once again we exceeded expectations by having super majorities on almost, in fact all of these amendments suffering defeat at a very wide margin. and so now what we know is that we have a bill

and i agree with my friend, senator heitkamp in that we need certainty. we've been debating this issue for a long time since the court cases. if this bill were to become law, you're not going to have certainty. it's going to be litigated. whatever is done is going to be litigated. we know that. we've seen the litigious nature of what has happened over the course of the issues. yes, i want congress to speak on this, and congress has spoken on this. congress has said very clearly that we want the test of the clean water act be to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of our nation's waters. i don't want congress to say, no, we don't want that. we now want a pragmatic test that could very well jeopardize clean water. the bottom line is each congress should want to strengthen the clean water act, not weaken it. this bill would weaken the clean water act and prevent a rule from becoming law that has been debated now for a long time. i urge my colleagues to reject the motion nor cloture and we'll a little bit more to say about thi

senator heitkamp your leadership on this is a wonderful thing to see. i wish that you are frankly not so often standing by yourself on an issue that matters as much as this one does. i want to talk briefly about issued to frame it all up and over to my friend mark. and 2009 i began to hear from friends who had come back that they would look in america not recognize them so prevent a military friends i've met over the years in iraq and afghanistan, that they could see in the eyes of the wife with her husband that they were scared with the biggest in the eyes of the children that they were scared, that they themselves felt ugly, failed to think about what they've seen on what they have done. avenue for change but didn't quite know how or why or how to change it. some of them over facebook over e-mail or by phone begin to say they were thinking of killing himself but they just didn't want to live in the way it was living. they did want to keep feeling the weight of the. a couple and did he kill himself and do so shattering on a personal level. begin settin

senator heitkamp. >> thank you, mr.chairman and ranking member for this very important hearing and in the halls of congress, we frequently represent some of -- and talk about some of the most powerful people in america what we are going to do with the large banks, what we are going to do, and today, we are talking about the most vulnerable people in america, small children, basically being exploited, being captured, and being sold as sex slaves. what could be more horrific than that? and we are told by an organization like backpage.com that they are doing everything, they are trying as hard as they can to prevent this horrible thing from happening to children. i think today we are saying you need to try harder and if you were truly trying to as hard as what you could, if you truly cared, you would be in this room with us, talking about how we could, in fact, attack this problem. they are not in this room because they aren't in this fight with the rest of us. they aren't here to protect children. they are here to make mo

senator heitkamp: what else have we missed? propaganda.he isis are aid thatment we can give to turks to increase their border control would be very useful. overwhelmingly that is where foreign fighters are coming in. mr. jenkins: let me add to a comment by daveed. this probably will be more about bilateral agreements and multilateral. there are profound differences in europe, policy differences, even philosophical differences about how to deal with these issues. about privacy issues, resettlement issues, about returning foreign fighters, whether they should be charged with criminal violations or they should be rehabilitated and put back into society. when you deal with that many differences in a group like the european union, it tends to dilute the efforts down to sort of the least common denominator. so, we really, really have to work closely on a bilateral basis to ensure that we are getting the information that we need for our own national security interest. senator heitkamp: go ahead. >> we have been talking about a lot of

mentioned before, i introduced this legislation with my democrat colleagues senators done lee, senator heitkampor manchin as well as many of my republican colleagues and i appreciate all of my colleagues who spoke out in favor of this legislation. let me just conclude this discussion with these thoughts. our beautiful rivers and lakes deserve protection, and this boss nothing to block -- this bill does nothing to block the waters of the united states. by striking the right balance, we'll restore washington's attention to the country's traditional waterways. protecting these cherished natural resources. at the same time we'll give certainty to farmers, ranchers, small business owners that they can use their property reasonably without fear of constant washington intervention. the existing rule on waters of the united states is the poster child of e.p.a. overreach. the courts have already begun to weigh in on their concerns and have stayed the rule nationally. there's a great legal uncertainty about whether waters of the united states will survive these legal challenges. these challenges could ta

i'm so proud to be here today with my colleague from north dakota senator heidi heitkamp. we have 47 cosponsors on this bipartisan effort to stop the existing coal plant rule. we've had a lot of discussion about this. it affects all of our states differently, but i think it is important to talk not just about what does to our individual states but what this is going to do to us as a country. if the administration's proposed clean power plan moves forward hardship -- hardship -- will be felt all across the country. fewer job opportunities higher power bills and less reliable electricity will result. west virginia and other coal-producing states like kentucky and wyoming are feeling the pain of prior e.p.a. regulations. nearly 7,000 more notices -- or informations to employees -- and let me just say. does anyone know what a warrant notice is? if you've got gotten, you'll never forget it. it says you could be laid off within the next 60 days. in west virginia 7,000 of those notices have g.n.p. out gone out to west virginia families. and more than 2,600 of those were just issu

i will take this up, but i will go to senator heitkamp. heitkamp: i share your complementary statements with the chairman. i think we have a great panel here. fromto kind of begin it, everything i have read in your testimony and what you presented here, would you say the focus this pointe put at solely on the refugee resettlement program is perhaps misplaced and has diverged it attention from much more critical security issues that we have? it seems to be unanimous on the panel. everyoneecord reflect is nodding their head. if you disagree, please weigh in your it obviously you represent a great cross-section of national security efforts. thed you say your view is majority view of people who study national security? must talk to each other at some point here. can you tell me, building on what the chairman has asked, what things you think we are talked? that we have not about today. obviously the visa waiver program is on everybody's mind. along with senator feinstein, we are introducing a bill to address gaps. timely now. it will be a great

senator heitkamp: that's something you can get back to me on.i used up my time and the chairman has offered to gavel us down if we go too far over. this is a dialogue that i think we need to continue. >> senator, i'm meeting with the canadian official tomorrow so you give me questions i'll get answers for you. >> i love you being a motivating factor. senator peters. senator peters: thank you for your testimony today. this has been an interesting hearing, one i think we'll be continuing to discuss for sometime but it is of particular importance to me and the folks in the state of michigan, as i think both of you are aware. we have one of the largest middle eastern populations outside of the middle east, is in primarily detroit metropolitan area. we are the home to many refugees from around the world, but particularly from the middle east, that come to the detroit area. i've had an opportunity to work with refugee resettlement groups, with the religious community, got to know many refugees who have come to this country who contributes to the count

act is legislation that i introduced along with a number of democrat senators, senator donnelly, heitkamp, and manchin, along with many other senators. the senator from california previously spoke, and i would just point out to her that the california chamber of commerce supports my legislation. the california farm bureau supports my legislation. because this legislation will protect our nation's navigable waters and the streams and wetlands that help our navigable waters say clean. this bill is a testament to the hard work both sides of the aisle has done in achieving an agreement on an environmental protection bill. our rivers, our lakes, our wetlands, all other waterways are among america's most treasured resources. in my home state of wyoming, we have some of the most beautiful rivers in the world. the snake river, the wind river, dozens of others. people from around the world come to wyoming. they come to visit because we have an environmental landscape that is second to none. anyone who has come to my state and experienced yellowstone national park, the grand tetons, the bighorn mou

. >>> senator james langford and heitkamp are teaming up to trim the fat in washington.ns committee in energy and water, soon to release a report, and watching the debate last night, senator, apparently, there is waste in washington. i was not aware of that. did you get to see any of that? >> i can assure you there's plenty of waste in washington, what both we're aware of and what we dig out and find out the time, but thanks. >> i know, it is staggering, a daunting task. you have to start somewhere, i guess. ta how do you begin? >> so the challenge is every member of the congress, every member of the senate, house, should dig in, look for areas in their particular committees and find areas that have waste. there's $430 billion in deficit spending this year with complaints about that, a lot of conversation about how do we get on top of that? we have to get practical solutions on the table. all of us should work in the areas where we have purview, be able to find the areas of waste and be able to lay those on the table and say we're talking about how to get back to $430 bi

i will take this up, but i will go to senator heitkamp. sen. heitkamp: thank you. think what you are talking about is so important. --hare your complementary complimentary statements with the chairman. i think we have a great panel here. just to kind of begin it, from everything i have read in your testimony and what you presented here, would you say that the focus that we have put at this point solely on the refugee resettlement program is perhaps misplaced and it has diverted attention from much more critical security issues that we have? it seems to be unanimous on the panel, just let the record reflect everyone is nodding their head. if you disagree, please weigh in. you represent a great cross-section of national security experts. would you say your view is kind of the majority view of people who study national security? so you guys must talk to each other at some point here. can you tell me, building on what the chairman has asked, what things you think we are missing that we have not talked about today. obviously, the visa waiver program is on everyone's min

i'm thankful for the bipartisan leadership by senator mcconnell and as well as senator heitkamp in standinginst the regulations against our nation's coal-fired power plants. i'm glad to join them to stop the e.p.a. from imposing its anti-coal regulations. the congressional review act resolution of disapproval we are considering today will block the obama administration's regulations on existing coal-fired plants. we're also seeing strong opposition, strong opposition from more than half of the states in the country, including my home state of montana, that through three different lawsuits have requested an initial stay on the rule. the obama administration's wreckless agenda is -- reckless yeandz iagenda is shutting down coal-fired power plants across the united states. it is stifling investments that could lead to innovation to make coal even cleaner here in the united states. president obama calls it the clean power plan. that's not named correctly. it should be called the unaffordable energy plan. president obama's unaffordable energy plan will have a negligible energy impact on global e

i'm thankful for the bipartisan leadership by senator mcconnell and as well as senator heitkamp in standingagainst the regulations against our nation's coal-fired power plants. i'm glad to join them to stop the e.p.a. from imposing its anti-coal regulations. the congressional review act resolution of disapproval we are considering today will block the obama administration's regulations on existing coal-fired plants. we're also seeing strong opposition, strong opposition from more than half of the states in the country, including my home state of montana, that through three different lawsuits have requested an initial stay on the rule. the obama administration's wreckless agenda is -- reckless yeandz iagenda is shutting down coal-fired power plants across the united states. it is stifling investments that could lead to innovation to make coal even cleaner here in the united states. president obama calls it the clean power plan. that's not named correctly. it should be called the unaffordable energy plan. president obama's unaffordable energy plan will have a negligible energy impact on globa

i know how dedicated the senator heitkamp is to this issue and if back page thinks that they are goinguietly into the night, they are sadly mistaken. i want to get to give a shout out to an organization called truckers against trafficking. they are working to deal with the kind of culture that needs to change within the subset into their doing terrific work in terms of educating and hopefully making strides along with the rest of you in addressing the problem because we don't even -- as reprehensible as all of this is, there is come as long as there's there is a demand, we are going to find the next iteration, the next generation and so we need to be on top of that as well. senator ayotte and i think the chairman and ranking member, as we look kind of going forward you are looking at things we can do today. we can continue to be as tenacious as what we possibly can on this investigation. but i want to talk about maybe a couple of ideas that could add to the effort here legislatively. you mentioned current federal law requires entities defined as a electronic service provider report ins

position in treasury and there's obviously work that still needs to be done and can you -- senator heitkamp that still pending? >> it is pending and the hearing is completed. pending vote in in the banking committee. >> this committee's done great work making sure that senior level leadership, department of homeland security, vacant positions year and a half ago, they have been filled and done very good work in that regard and this is another nomination that's going to be very helpful in terms of the root cause, cutting off isis money. it's all good well and good to face them on the battlefield. we have a good guy willing to serve. we need to get him done. thank you. >> thank you, senator carper. i also have an opening statement to enter into the record without objection. a couple of housekeeping items. great we have such strong attendance and going to limit questions to five minutes. i thought there might be a few acronyms thrown around and i had the staff publish a little acronym glossary here. speed things along. a 13-step vetting process, just put out by the u.s. committee of refugees a