hoeven: that's great. i'm also very concerned about any reductions from to the support for crop insurance, our number one risk management tool for farmers. you are probably not surprised to hear me say that. you and i have had this discussion before. but i am very concerned about that and will make sure that we do everything we can to support crop insurance. in fact, we included language in the farm bill to make sure that that didn't happen. on the positive side, though, i appreciate the support you have provided for ag research service areas and for the national institute of food and agriculture. i think that research area is incredibly important, incredibly impactful for our farmers and ranchers. if you have some thoughts there, i would welcome them. sec. vilsack: briefly, on the crop insurance. there are two areas. one is on the preventative planning. our inspector general and general accounting office have been critical of the way that that program operates. i think it is appropriate for us to be respo

senator hoeven: for which they have to cover all of their costs. secretary vilsack: well, there is also an additional resource. senator hoeven: but again, at the end of the day if they can't make enough money to continue to stand as a business and cover their costs, you will not have a robust insurance group out there providing crop coverage. i'm not suresack: that either one of these two proposals impacts the issue you have raised, but i'm certainly sensitive to the fact, which is why we continually look at the return on the investment. it was difficult, but we are beginning to see more profitability in that part of the operation. again, i think it was 15%, 13% last year. 18% for this year. i understandn: your point of view, though i don't agree with it. but again i want to emphasize that crop insurance support has been reduced since 2008. there are a lot of programs across the federal government that have not contributed as much in terms of help with finding savings as crop insurance. secretary vilsack: you don't have to tell me about reductions,

. >> senator hoeven this is your first question. this is the second round do we will go to senator hoeven if you are ready for questions. >> absolutely. thank you chairman gardner. appreciate you and the ranking member holding this hearing and secretary it's good to see you. thanks so much for being here. thanks for your trips from north dakota. we appreciate very much. what i would like to focus on for a few minutes is carbon capture technology. the administration is putting forward regulations that require reduction in co2 emissions but the carbon capture technology is not commercially viable in the market so how can the d.o.e. help our coal-fired electric companies utilities actually implement carbon capture technology that is economically and commercially viable? >> well i think certainly we have technologies that work and of course i think what you are referring to in terms of power plan i would know what is required there are partial captures not the 90% capture that we have used in our demonstration plants. but as we go into

hoeven: thank you, madam president. i come to the floor today in support of the biotechnology labeling solutions bill. this legislation will avoid a patchwork of state labeling regulations and in so doing will save families thousands of dollars a year, protect american jobs and provide consumers with accurate, transparent information about their food. first of all, i want to thank chairman pat roberts for his leadership on the issue of bioengineered food and for bringing forward his chairman's mark, specifically the biotechnology labeling solutions bill does three things. it immediately ends the problem of having a patchwork of inconsistent state g.m.o. labeling programs. second, it creates a voluntary bioengineering food labeling program within one year, so the usda would set up a voluntary program within a year. and then within three years, it requires the department of agriculture to create a mandatory bioengineered labeling program if there is insufficient information available on a product's bioengineered content.

you know, i had the chance to travel with senator hoeven down to our southern border of texas last springecause we both are on the department of homeland security appropriations subcommittee and we talked to some of our customs and border patrol employees who were down on the border in loredo who were interdicting drugs down on our southern border. and one of the things they talked about is that drugs are coming across our southern border and they're going up the interstate highway system. so they're going up interstate 95 to northern new hampshire. they're going up interstate 35 up through the middle of the country. and we've got to provide law enforcement with the funds they need to interdict those traffickers. we need an infusion of new funding to mobilize so that the programs are more aggressive for stopping opioid traffickers and dealers. our amendment requires that byrne j.a.g. funds be used directly to combat the opioid crisis for this emergency funding, and that will allow for programs that emphasize treatment over incarceration, like drug courts. in new hampshire, we've seen what

senator hoeven and i worked on this, it got included in the fast act to make sure states besides connecticut were able to receive some of the funding for educational efforts on distracted driving. and we know these incentive grants are helpful. could you talk about what advances in automated vehicles would mean for reducing the incidents of distracting driving? we know it's just a major issue. it's expanding. it's not just kids. it's adults too. we just had today in our newspaper front page two people hurt, one man -- a man killed, he was a school bus driver, 79 years old, and he lived in a rural area. he was just going out to get his newspaper at the mailbox and it turned out the woman who hit him was going a text and she's been charged with a crime. that's just today. every single day there's something like that. could you talk about how the automated vehicles, whoever can take it, would be helpful? >> i think what that unfortunate and tragic example highlights is the roles these systems can play. with systems like lane departure warning, imminent driving and other alerts and ultimately th

you know, i had the chance to travel with senator hoeven down to our southern border of texas to our southern border of texas now,now, i had the chance to travel with senator melvin secu last spring gives we botho are on the department of homeland security i subcommittee and talked to texas in border patrol employees who are down on the border interdicting drugs on the southern border interstate one of the things they talked about is the drugs are coming across the southern border and going across the interstate highway system and we have to survive law enforcement with the funds to interdict traffickers. infuse new funding so that programs are more aggressive phones to combat the opioid crisis for this emergency funding.the in new hampshire we have seen what a difference it can make. from may to december and to seek -- based in bedford new hampshire jew around federal, state, and local resources to make sense.hree 240 arrests, for major trafficking organizations, dismantle three processing mills and seize assets. but we must continue to re-create successes to do that we have to prov

hoeven: mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. hoeven: mr. president , i rise today to discuss two amendments i'm introducing to s. 524, the comprehensive addiction and recovery act. across the country, including in my home state of north dakota, families are experiencing the devastating effects of opioid and heroin addiction. in fact, in 2014, 61% of all overdose deaths in the united states were related to opioids. in north dakota alone, overdose deaths have tripled in the past decade and it's no mystery why. in 2014, the north dakota bureau of criminal investigation seized 1,549 dosage units of opioids. in 2015, they seized 5,593. that's a 3.5, 3 1/2-fold, increase in just one year. so an increase of more than three times in just one year. similarly, law enforcement seizures of heroin from canada have grown exponentially. but our data about cross-border drug smuggling is limited. to battle drug abuse effectively, we need

you know, i had the chance to travel with senator hoeven down to our southern border of texas last spring because we both are on the department of homeland security appropriations subcommittee and we talked to some of our customs and border patrol employees who were down on the border in loredo who were interdicting drugs down on our southern border. and one of the things they talked about is that drugs are coming across our southern border and they're going up the interstate highway system. so they're going up interstate 95 to northern new hampshire. they're going up interstate 35 up through the middle of the country. and we've got to provide law enforcement with the funds they need to interdict those traffickers. we need an infusion of new funding to mobilize so that the programs are more aggressive for stopping opioid traffickers and dealers. our amendment requires that byrne j.a.g. funds be used directly to combat the opioid crisis for this emergency funding, and that will allow for programs that emphasize treatment over incarceration, like drug courts. in new hampshire, we've seen wh

senator hoeven and i worked on this but it can't include in the fast act to make sure states besides connecticut were able to receive some of the funding for educational efforts on distracted driving we know these incentive grants are helpful. could you talk about what would come advances in automated vehicles would need for reducing the incidence of distracted driving? we know it's just a major issue. it's expanding. it's not just kids. it's adults also. we detected in our newspaper front page, two people hurt, a man killed kidding, he was a school bus driver, 79, and he went out, he lived in a rural area katusha squad allocated everyday to get his newspaper at the mailbox at the turn of the woman who hit him was doing a text. and, of course, she's been charged with a crime. that was just a bigger every single day there's something like that. so could you talk about how the automated vehicles whoever can take it can would be helpful. >> with that unfortunate and tragic example, highlights the role that a disk systems can play like lane departure warning, breaking another driver aler