isakson: mr. president, h. res. 88 is exactly the same as the resolution of disapproval i introduced in the united states senate, but it's lferred passed the house so today if we can take a vote and pass it, we can send it to the president hopefully for his signature, at least for him to express himself one way or another. the fiduciary rule and i might add identify disturb-year has nine letters in -- identify disturb-year has nine letters. there are pages of definitions prescribing the one nine-letter word. this is a solution in search of a problem. it's bad for america, bad for our savers. makes too big to fail even bigger in america today. i'd like to ask unanimous consent to enter into the record 461 -- a letter from 461 people of the united states of america who are opposed to this bill. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. isakson: i want to read one paragraph from the letter because it says better than anything i can say what's wrong with the identify disturb-year -- identify disturb-year -- fid

i will defer to senator isakson. >> senator isakson. senator isakson: thank you. i appreciate that, ranking member murray -- she left. i want to commend the ranking member and chairman for their leadership on the point we are at today and i think it will be a great empowerment for local boards of education and state boards of education to carry out the educational mandate in their state. throughout the debate, and i'm one of the last remaining people that wrote no child left behind so i readily admit that. it was a great act for six years but went through seven years where it wasn't re-authorized and it became an impediment because it made it harder and harder to make progress and people end up put in nonperforming schools that shouldn't be there. the thing i focused on most were children with disabilities and assessment. i'm married to a special ed teacher when i chaired the state board of education in georgia, i worked hard on education and kids with disabilities to try to provide as much quality rules as we could and quality education. one of the things we had

i will defer to senator isakson. >> senator isakson. senator isakson: thank you. i appreciate that, ranking member murray -- she left. i want to commend the ranking member and chairman for their leadership on the point we are at today and i think it will be a great empowerment for local boards of education and state boards of education to carry out the educational mandate in their state. throughout the debate, and i'm one of the last remaining people that wrote no child left behind so i readily admit that. it was a great act for six years but went through seven years where it wasn't re-authorized and it became an impediment because it made it harder and harder to make progress and people end up put in nonperforming schools that shouldn't be there. the thing i focused on most were children with disabilities and assessment. i'm married to a special ed teacher when i chaired the state board of education in georgia, i i worked hard on psycho-education and kids with disabilities to try to provide as much quality rules as we could and quality education. one of the thing

so i will defer to senator isakson. >> thank you. senator isakson. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, lisa, i appreciate that. ranking member murray, she left i guess. i want to commend the chairman and ranking member on their leadership on essa, and every student succeeds to the point where we're at today. i think great empowerment for local boards of education and state boards of education to carry out the educational mandate in their state. throughout the debate, i'm one of the last remaining people that wrote no child left behind. i readily admit that. it was great act for six years. seven years it wasn't reauthorized because it became harder and harder to make adequate ceiling process. ceiling got too low and people were put into non-performing schools that shouldn't have been put in that category. thing i focused most on children with disabilities as and assessment of children with is disabilities. i'm married to a special education teacher. our kids with learning disabilities to try to provide as much quality rules as we could and quality education. one of the things

isakson: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. isakson: mr. president, i rise to address the subject before the senate with regard to the h.u.d. proposed rule, the lee amendment and the amendment proposed by the senator from maine, ms. collins. i do so as one that had 35 years of experience in the housing business, affected by the civill rights act, affected by the 1968 fair housing act, and one who has a good deal of working knowledge about what that accomplished. and what it accomplished was an end to prejudice against african-americans in the south and ethnic minorities in the northeast and around the country to ensure everybody had an equal opportunity -- underline the word opportunity -- to have safe, affordable housing. that took place in 1968. it's been a long time since 1968. prejudice in america is almost gone. housing access is almost universal. but there's one group of people in america that have very little access to housing because there's none available to them. you can i

so, i will defer to senator isakson and -- >> thank you. senator isakson. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, lisa, i appreciate that. ranking member murray -- she's left, i guess. i want to thank the chairman and the ranking member on the essa and every student succeeds and the point we're at today. i think it will be a great empowerment for the local boards and state boards of education to carry out the educational mandate in their state. i'm the last remaining people that wrote no child left behind so i readily admit that. it was a great act for six years but it became an impediment as the ceiling got too low and people were put in nonperforming schools that shouldn't have been put in that category. but the thing i look at most with the assessment of children with disabilities, i married to a special ed teacher, and i worked hard on education and our kids with disabilities and learning disabilities to try to provide as much quality rules as we could and quality education. one of the things we had was a 1% -- 1% exception i guess you'd call it for kids with the kind of

chairman. >> thank you, senator isakson. senator warren. >> we talk about the department of education's plans for enforcing these provisions. now, we've heard concerns from witnesses who represent is professionals on the front lines implementing esea, but i want to make sure we have the opportunity to clarify a few key points regarding these provisions and why they're in the law in the first place. congress strengthened the kent in essa to ensure federal money is used to meme the purple of title one. to provide all children significant opportunity to receive a fair equitable and high quality education, and i underline "all," not just children in wealthy districts. so, miss weingarten, let me start there. why do you feel it's federal law to provide quadcy and how money is spent? >> sorry. i've been having a microphone problem all morning. essa is a civil rights law and it is about trying to make sure that there's opportunity for all children. so if that is the case, equity is absolutely essential in order to get to excellence

i wish everyone had heard senator isakson's eloquent speech on the floor this afternoon when he talked about a wonderful, inclusive mixed-housing development -- mixed-income housing development in atlanta that has included a charter school and a "y" and has resulted in the test scores of the children going up and crime decreasing because of the model that was adopted for this particular development. now, i mentioned earlier that it's important to know that h.u.d. issued this new rule in response to a specific 2010 g.a.o. report. now, members in this chamber are always looking to g.a.o. for information, advice, recommendations on how we can improve the effectiveness and the efficiency ofederal programs to make sure that they're fulfilling the mandates that we have written, to make sure that they are serving the people who they are intended to serve in the manner that congress intended. so g.a.o. took a look at the fair housing requirements -- and particularly the requirement in the fair housing act that recipients of h.u.d.'s grants were to affirmatively advantages fair housing -- advan

isakson: mr. president, i want to thank senator casey from pennsylvania for giving knee a couple minutes. he is the chairman of the veterans' affairs committee to come to the floor and pay tribute pro-seeding memorial day to those men and women that have sacrificed, fought, and died on behalf of the people of united states of america. we would not be where we are today, madam speaker, had it not been for veterans who died on the battlefield to see to it that we could have free speech, democracy in government and our people could peacefully decide who their leaders were and leave it up to us to lead the kufnlt i want to put a personal face on memorial day, if i can. first by talking about a guy named tommy newan, my military staffer who volunteered for the united states army guard, went to fort benning, georgia, graduated number wurntion and you no he what that means at fort benning. and right now is deployed in afghanistan and has been deployed for the last five months. while we sit here in peace

support the veterans first act, another bipartisan bill that i was pleased to work with chairman isakson to achieve. and it makes additional changes to veterans health care to improve opioid therapy, access to chiropractic care as well as ensure strong accountability within the department. again, i want to express my appreciation to my colleague and friend, senator mccain, and say that i look forward to working with him closely on this amendment. which would be helpful, in my view, to the veterans choice program. without this extension, the veterans choice program would expire next year before congress enacts long-term reform for veterans health. and the stability provided by this extension and funding will help ensure maximum participation by doctors, hospitals, and clinics in the community who wish to treat our veterans. this amendment is one i support, having worked with my colleague, senator mccain, on it, and i am very hopeful that we can move forward with the support of this body. thank you, mr. president. and i yield the floor. mr. mccain: mr. president? the presiding officer: the

isakson: i thank the senator from maine for recognition. i want to commend senator collins and senator reed for their work on this bill. they've shown great leadership and for the senate for having the good sense to pass it this afternoon. if anybody in the audience or this room doesn't think this is an emergency, you should have been with senator collins two weeks ago at the c.d.c. in atlanta. we spent four hours looking at the depiction of what the zika outbreak will look like if it doesn't stop. there have been one million cases in the caribbean and central america and south america, 500 cases in the united states of america and it's going to grow. the faster we get our arms around it the better off the american people are going to be. this is a lot of money but it is only a pittance compared to what it would could have if the epidemic got out of control and we didn't stop it and defeat it. this money will go to labor-h.h.s., health and human services and other en'tis to provide -- entities to provide the education and training necessary

on the senate side, chairman johnny isakson with vic blumenthal last earth day released to veterans first act, a large omnibus that includes many of the legislative solutions we have been urging. important elements that will benefit veterans are still missing including the comprehensive approach to consolidate community care and the break through appeals reform that veterans need. last week, a coalition of veterans service organizations wrote to chairman isaacson and ranking member blumenthal to urge action on the appeals reform package. on the house side, leading democrat on the house panel that handles appeals reforms has introduced as her own bill, hr 5083 which includes the changes we are seeking. we will continue to press in the weeks ahead. our window of opportunity will not be open indefinitely. this congress with today's the a leadership team can enable all these transformations and more for veterans are you then we can all look back on this year as the year we turned the corner for veterans. those are a few points about our progress and their challenges. now, some of our youth at

isakson who wrote the book on steve jobs. is that what this is all about? that not the having the next big thing, because the 7, they believe it is the next big thing even though it is the same thing, but it is big >> that is why it is trading cash 8 times the earnings, and don't act like jobs or zuckerberg or bezos is running it. it is not valued like a big innovator, but a hardware company at a very, very low multiple which if you are long the name gives you the potential so that if they do come out with some kind of a major innovation, whether it is television or the cars or whatever is going on that no one can quantify, and if it happens, you are not already paying up for that, and you are paying as if there is no more innovation, and this is a company to sell you apple radio subscriptions, and a replacement phone every two years. that is the only thing in the multiple today. >> and for more on the big multiple move, let's bring in a tech analyst in new york city with yukovich, and as apple is taking a loss in the market cap, and what are you seeing? >>

. >> senator isakson. >> thank you, mr. chairman. can anybody tell me what happened to joseph koenig? >> he's still out there. there has been a strong and proactive effort against the lra. we've been working with the au and with the ugandans and other partners. and we were able to get his number two, who is now currently in the hague being tried. but coney has been elusive. but our efforts continue very robustly to get him, and the job is not over until that is done. >> and one time we committed 100 special troops and forces to c.a.r., i believe to go after coney. are they still deployed? >> i believe they are. i can't give you the exact numbers, but i did meet with the team when i was in uganda the last time and they are still working there. >> although not recognized as an institutional terrorist, there's probably no worse terrorist than joseph coney in terms of children and women. i'm glad we're still committed to trying to bring him to justice, as hard as that appears to be. >> yes, sir. >> talk about the african union for just a

. >> but matt, you know, gop senator johnny isakson, he has said he didn't want to talk about trump's policies. he said, quote, i need laryngitis as quick as i can get it. i mean, was this a good or bad week for trump? how long can elected republicans dodge questions about trump's views? >> itself going to be a great season for vick's sales on capitol hill. no, a lot of people are going to be holding their nose. like mitch mcconnell. mcconnell never opposed donald trump. he didn't go the showy paul ryan move. he just said he's going to be our nominee, okay, whatever, but i don't want to talk about it. ryan made a big show of it. now ryan's going to have to be ritually humiliated and brought to heel. so you're going to see a lot of people try to protect the down-ballot races so there's no trump damage to that and focus on that instead and not really talk a whole lot. but meanwhile, with paul ryan and lindsey graham and other people. they don't have a choice. he's going to be the nominee. >> right. >> so they're going to want to try to influence him. so ryan's trying to tell him about l

something johnny isakson of georgia said to me earlier and richard burr -- sorry, roy blunt of missouri said i'll worry about my missouri senate race. but a handful of folks actually are willing to embrace him and support him. some folks, however, are walking away from it, including marco rubio. i'll read a statement he put out to address the rumors he would be considered as a vice presidential candidate. said that while voters may have chosen donald trump, my previously stated reservations about his campaign and concerns with many of his policies remain unchanged. he'll be best served by a running mate and by surrogates who fully embrace his campaign. and i think, erin, that is really the key aspect. who will fully embrace his campaign. right now there are folks on capitol hill doing that. i mentioned richard burr of north carolina. he has won. jeff sessions is another. but marco rubio clearly is not, as well as a number of other senate republicans. >> all right. manu, thank you very much. appreciate it. and manu, as we said, on capitol hill want to. "outfront" now, one of trump's form

. >> senator isakson. >> thank you. i appreciate your compliments. not much transparency.utting it on the website is pretty good. a lot of these people would not know website if i saw them. i want to echo what has been said. i am completely coming from where they are in terms of us were the united states holding these people accountable in some way, withholding funds until late comply with human life. when sen. corker wentsenator corker went to die for and senator cohen went to the congo, one of the things i learned is, rape is a military tactic for them. it is not a violation of law. they teach it. when we went to die for you did not see a man younger -- older than 12 or younger than 72. because they are all that is left. they armies coming to invade the towns rape the women. and it is an ongoing process. this is a big practice. one place i know it takes place. unless there was a significant consequence, this may address your organizations work. we are just whistling in the wind. no is not a question. it was kind of a statement. which brings me to the question. is there a

senator johnny isakson and i a couple of weeks ago went to the centers for disease control and prevention in atlanta, georgia, and we were briefed on the threat posed by zika, which is carried by a mosquito that is known as the cockroach in the mosquito world because it is so difficult to get rid of. it can reproduce in water that is in the size of a container of a bottle cap, and we know that it's already -- zika has already become an epidemic in puerto rico and that there are confirmed cases in nearly every state in the union, and that is because even if you live in a far northern state where the type of mosquito that causes zika is not present, such as the state represented by the presiding officer, zika is still a threat. people travel. we know that it can be transmitted through sexual contact. so that is why we are seeing zika showing up in virtually every state. we need to get ahead of this epidemic, and that's why we had three different approaches offered yesterday on the senate floor and cloture was successfully invoked on a bipartisan proposal offered by senators blunt and murray

on the senate side, chairman johnny isakson with vic blumenthal last earth day released to veterans firstlarge omnibus that includes many of the legislative solutions we have been urging. important elements that will benefit veterans are still missing including the comprehensive approach to consolidate community care and the break through appeals reform that veterans need. week, a coalition of veterans service organizations wrote to chairman isaacson and ranking member blumenthal to urge action on the appeals reform package. side, leading democrat on the house panel that handles appeals reforms has introduced as her own bill, hr 5083 which includes the changes we are seeking. we will continue to press in the weeks ahead. our window of opportunity will not be open indefinitely. this congress with today's the a leadership team can enable all these transformations and more for veterans are you then we can all look back on this year as the year we turned the corner for veterans. those are a few points about our progress and their challenges. youth at v.a.ur can best serve veterans by shutting

on the senate side, chairman johnny isakson in partnership with ranking member dick blumenthal just last thursday released the veterans first act, a large omnibus that includes many of the legislative solutions we've been urging. however, important elements that will benefit veterans are still missing. including the comprehensive approach to consolidate community care and the breakthrough appeals reform that veterans need. last week a coalition of veteran service organizations wrote to chairman isakson, ranking member blumenthal, to urge action on the appeals reform package. on the house side, leaning democrat on the house panel that handles appeals reform has introduced as her own bill hr-5083 which includes the changes we are seeking. we'll continue to press in the weeks ahead. our window of opportunity won't be open indefinitely. this congress with today's va leadership team can enable all of these transformational changes and more for veterans. then we can all look back on this year as the year we turned the corner for veterans. those are a few points about our progress and our chall

. >> senator isakson. >> thank you, mr. chairman. can anybody tell me what happened in joseph kony? >> he is still out of there. there has been a very strong and proactive effort against the lr a. we've been working with the au and with ugandans and other partners, and we were able to get his number two who is now currently in the hague being tried. but kony has been elusive but our efforts continue very robustly to get him. the job is not over until that is done. >> one time we committed 100 special troops and forces to see a are ugly to go after kony. by the still deployed? >> i think they are. i did meet with the team when i was in uganda the last time and they are still working there. >> although not recognized as institutional terrorist there's probably no worst terrorist in terms of women and children i'm glad we're still committed to bring justice as hard as that appears to be. talk about the african union. does the african union address the issue of terrorism on the continent? did have a game plan to deal with terrorism? >> we are working closely with the african union on te

congressional delegation, democrats and republicans and by both our united states senators, senators isakson and perdue who will handle this in the senate and i see my republican friends n the floor, thank you for joining us here for this important bill. now, mr. speaker, why we're here. major uary 11, 2016, gregory e. barney, who also notably was the very first african-american interim chief in the history of riverdale, georgia. i was fatally shot in the line a uty while he was serving warrant for the arrest of a drug dealer, a drug dealer, mr. speaker. the drudge of our community right now, major barney stepped up and responded. he was working with a detail of the clayton county police. their narcotics unit and their s.w.a.t. team. and they were there to put forward this warrant for his arrest. and the drug dealer shot mr. barney. now, the day of this tragic ath also, mr. speaker, the 11th of february, there was something else significant. it also marked the anniversary of his 25-year career, shot on he 25th anniversary of his 25-year service to the clayton county and riverdale police forc

education and retirement support, or the savers act, as well as legislation introduced by senator isakson, the affordable retirement advice protection act. both of these bills would protect americans who are saving for retirement without forcing them into the fixed-fee arrangements that the i fiduciay rule would, in many circumstances, mandate. these arrangements could create new roadblocks, making it harder -- it'll make it harder for consumers to receive financial advice. nebraskans depend on this financial guidance. they plan their futures and to also to provide for their families. washington bureaucrats should not be dictating who you can hire and what investments you can make. it is time to draw the line and to stop this injection of government into the free market. i am proud to fight on behalf of nebraskans and their families and their freedom to make the best financial decisions for their own future, and i urge my colleagues to vote with me in support of this resolution of disapproval. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. and i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the pr

isakson: i want to add one further comment. the cost associated with extending the eligibility of choice by three years which is the mccain amendment scores at a cost. to recognize the cost you have to assume we would not have treated an eligible veteran under any other program if choice expired. we're not going to abandon our veterans. we have a commitment to the veterans for the health care they signed up for. what center mccain is doing is trying to improve access to health care, maintain the access through the choice of a private sector provider or v.a. provider. there's no additional cost unless you assume that you want to take away a benefit that we've given two years ago in the omnibus bill we passed. i commend senator mccain for extending the eligibility for choice for three more years. i will support the amendment when it comes before the senate and i encourage all the members to do the same. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum cal