chairman johnson: senator hoeven . senator hoeven: thank you, mr. chairman. i thank all the witnesses for being here. start with secretary duke. in your testimony you notified -- excuse me, you noted that d.h.s. lacks authority to counter threats from unmanned ariel systems n my state we're very -- aerial system. in my state we're very involved with those systems using them on the border. so talk to me about -- can you describe in some greater detail the domestic threat of unmanned aircraft and what authorities have, what authorities you should have, and what we can do. secretary duke: we're seeing an increase use of have, what auths you drones. they could be for surveillance. they could be for bringing illicit materials. they could be for acting violence. what we lack are some of the signals of the ability to interdict, if you will, the signals so that we can try to determine if this is a friendly or foe type drone. we're not the only ones lacking that ability. i think because it's a new threat the specific authorities notonitor these drones does exist gener

senator john hoeven. thank you very much for being here. >> you bet. melissa: got to get this stuff done. david: absolutely. that is what a manager in business and leader in congress is supposed to do, get the job done. melissa: yeah. people at home just can't stand hearing about it any longer without seeing progress. >>> bribery and fraud at some of the nation's top college basketball programs. federal prosecutors announcing charges in number of schemes that included coaches, financial planners and an executive at adidas. david: this is heart-breaking. otto warmbier's parents speaking out for the first time detailing the brutal torture their son went through at a north korean prison. gordon chang said it was crucial to add north korea to the travel ban list. he will tell us why. melissa: the situation growing more dire in puerto rico. the president's making the island's roofry a top priority. fox news's geraldo rivera is on the ground in san juan. he will join us next. >> we right now have our top people from fema and they have been there. we are unlo

hoeven: madam president, i ask for consent to complete my remarks. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. hoeven: madam president, i'm honored to come to the floor today to express my support for the president's nominee to the u.s. court of appeals to the eighth circuit, judge ralph erickson. judge erickson is a long time north dakotan, a tremendous public servant in his current capacity as federal district court judge in fargo, north dakota. he made our state proud and i'm confident he will be an excellent addition to the eighth circuit judge. he has a distinguished legal career which spans over two decades. after working in private practice for ten years, he served as a magistrate judge. and then as a state district judge for the east central judicial district court. in 2003, judge erickson was nominated by president george w. bush to the u.s. district court for the district of north dakota and was quickly confirmed by the senate unanimously. unanimously. throughout his tenure judge erickson demonstrated a deep respect for the constitution a

we're trying to get senator hoeven's technical situation worked out from north dakota.es it takes a few minutes. we're going to have him a little bit later in the show. and we're going to keep the debate going on tax reform tomorrow with republican congressman mike kelly of pennsylvania and trent franks of arizona, two men who view this issue differently as well. >>> plus, the debate over dreamers is heating up. chris wallace sits down with senator blunt and senator durbin tomorrow on fox news sunday. and howard kurtz will tackle the coverage of president trump's daca deal and take a look at the media firestorm surrounding a series of tweets sent by an espn host, that's tomorrow 11 a.m. eastern here on the fox news channel, liz and i back with you at 1 p.m. eastern. >>> and now to some striking visuals in the nation's capital today in the so-called jugelows along with fans of president trump rubbing shoulders on the national mall. it is an odd but peaceful gathering. they're protesting a 2011 decision by the fbi that labeled them as a criminal gang. just a couple of hun

the buildings damaged or destroyed all the residents have been moved to the neighboring on and john hoeven reports from babita. roger has arrived back home the smooth caribbean island of devastated by hurricane needham a he's heading to his house to find out if it survived there's nothing. there's nothing you know that i know. god. is like. with a population of one thousand six hundred everyone seems to know each other here it makes the scars of destruction we see as we pass even more painful for roger you know it's kind of hard to see all this is my friends host so. i didn't really think about. this thing that make me feel like. holmes shit open like those houses inside the remnants of lives interrupted a stopped will to look watch clothes and toys tossed around dishes still waiting to be put away there's no knowing when those lies will be resumed everyone's been evacuated to nearby antigua until further notice there's worries about these eases from the stagnant flood water. roads is only allowed to visit at school because he works on the ferry between the two islands right now the only p

senator hoeven? where is the senator? stand up, senator? [applause] doing a fantastic job.p, senator. come on up here. get up here. fantastic job. thank you, senator. governor bergem, come on up, governor. beautiful job. lieutenant governor sanford. the above told me is the best lieutenant governor in the country. i don't know. we'll check it out. congressman cramer. senator heitkamp. come on up. you are all in favor of tax cuts, aren't you? >> absolutely. >> huh? come on up, snort. these are great people. they work hard. they're for you 100%. and we just want their support because we need support. you see that what is happening in congress. nobody can get anything through congress. we need support. so thank you, senator. senator heitkamp. everyone saying, what is she doing up here? i'll tell you what. good woman. i think we'll have your support. i hope we'll have your support. thank you very much, senator. thank you for coming up. senators, thank you. thank you. [applause] they're all in good company together. but working together we'll restore america's competitive edge b

senator john hoeven tweeted this, by the way, the night that you won -- "congratulations to our formerern and miss america on being crowned miss america. you make north dakota proud!" you make america proud here, too, cara, but i want to read a couple more things. brown university is where you trained, then went to the radio city rockettes. you founded north dakota's make-a-wish fashion show at the age of 14. all these things go on and on and on. you want to run for governor? and why? >> yes. i think i just proved, you know, it doesn't matter how many people along the way tell you that you can't accomplish something. the only one who can really define your limitations is yourself, and i've already kind of broke these boundaries. i did become the first miss america from north dakota, so why can't i become the first female governor of the state as well? >> might you go into federal politics? one of the statistics that has been put up against your move into politics is that, for instance, congress has only 20% of women represented in that body. would you think of running for a national of

senator hoeven. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thanks to the witnesses for being here. someo somewhat along the same lines, what are your priorities in the farm bill? as you look at small businesses, businesses throughout rural america, what are your priorities in the farm bill? one, two, three, for each of you? >> certainly, the reauthorization of the rural cooperative development grant program is critical to providing resources for rural businesses developing in rural areas. and north dakota has some excellent rural co-ops that have developed through this program. so reauthorization of rural cooperative development grant. the reauthorization of the value-added producer grant and maintaining a strong business focus for that program. having applicants put together strong applications that include financial projections and estimates of customer-based. those are two key pieces for what would be necessary in the next farm bill. but certainly, looking at all of these programs together, to see how we can -- how the programs work together to provide resources for rural develo

senator hoeven. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thanks to the witnesses for being here. somewhat along the same lines. what are your priorities? as you look at small businesses, is is is throughout rural america, what are your priorities in the farm bill like one, two, three, for each of you? >> the reauthorization of the program is critical to providing services for world businesses. north dakota has excellent rural cooperative developments to this program. reauthorization of rural cooperative development grant. the of the grant and maintaining a business focus for the program, having applicants put together a strong applications that include financial projections and estimates of customer base, those are two key pieces of for what would be necessary in the next farm bill. certainly look at all these partners together to see how the programs work together to provide resources for rural development and how they can be done, more cooperatively would be something we would encourage. thank you. >> center, i am not intimately familiar with all aspects of the farm bill but bu

senator john hoeven of north dakota says his state is bringing sweet corn for hurricane harvey relief. the associated press reporting a senior administration official votes in thet next will likely happen week. at 3:00te will gavel in eastern. senators will continue a judicial nomination for the district of columbia. you can watch the senate live on c-span2. announcer: next, a conversation on brexit and the u.s.-u.k. relationship with david davis, british secretary of state for exiting the european union. this is a little less than an hour. >>

let's ask north dakota republican senator john hoeven. senator, very good to have you.have a crazy schedule today. what do you make of that? could you support a tax measure that wouldn't include the wealthy, in other words, wouldn't be across the board? >> neil, i think it would be focused on middle class and wage earners. the reality i think it will be across the board, we want to make it pro-growth. we want the economy to create more jobs, look at subs corps, small businesses in this country, we're talking about lowering rates to create more jobs an opportunity. that drivers wages up. that helps wage earner along with the tax cut we're trying to do. i think you will see it will be across the board. neil: you cited them, because they pay whatever the prevailing rates are, not the corporate rate, but a lot of small businesses s-corps and marginal rates. >> you have your c-corps, your s-corps you bring the business rates down, if you have a big disparity between that and top rate that creates a problem as far as difference between big business which are typically c-corps

of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable john hoeven , a senator from the state of north dakota, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: orrin g.hatch, president pro tempore. mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: today senators will keep working to pass the national defense authorization act, the legislation that authorizes the resources, capabilities, pay and benefits that our service members rely on to be successful. the operational missions and tasks ahead for our men and women in uniform are as profuse as they are challenging. that's why it's essential that we meet our commitment to them by providing the equipment and the training they need to accomplish their missions. we should always remember that we have an all-volunteer force and in turn we must support our warriors with the pay and benefits they and their families count on at home. this national defense authorization touches on every one of these issues. we've already made an initial down payment toward rebuilding the mili

hoeven: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to consideration of senate resolution 52 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 252, designating september 2017 as national spinal cord injury awareness month. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. hoeven: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. hoeven: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of senate resolution 253 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 253, designating the week beginning september 18, 2017, as national hispanic surveying institutions week. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? seeing no objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. hoeven: i further ask that the res

hoeven: mr. president, i rise today. i rise today to honor the new miss america, that is article mung, a former intern in my office until last year. last night made history and she became the first north dakota -- first person from north dakota to win. my wife and i cheered for her throughout the competition. we like north dakotans. across our state we were excited when she was crowned miss america. the amazing thing is that she tried four times to win the miss north dakota pageant. she won the miss north dakota pageant on her forth try and then wins the miss america pageant. this is an amazing story of somebody who decided to accomplish a coal and -- a goal and did so. it is amazing and inspirational, really to anyone who sets out to achieve something really worthwhile. it shows what determination can do. cara is truly impressive and we are so proud to have her representing north dakota and now, of course, the entire nation as miss america. following graduation from brown university with a degree in entrepreneurship and