the cornyn-klobuchar bill addresses the need to do moorhead on. it establishes a domestic traffic victims fund paid for through fines on persons convicted of child pornography human trafficking, child prostitution sexual exploitation and human smuggling offenses. under current law those convicted of child abuse trafficking must pay a special $100 special assessment fee. under this amendment it's increased to $5,000 for child pornography and other forms of exploitation. those go to the domestic traffic victims fund which will increase the resources for victims by $7 million a year over a five-year time frame for a total of $35 million. funding will be awarded as block grants to states and local governments under the victim-centered human trafficking deterrence block grant programs. the purpose of these grants is to develop and implement victim-centered programs that train law enforcement to rescue trafficking survivors prosecute traffickers and pornographers and help restore the lives of their innocent victims. innocence the justice for victims of

>> yes, thank you, senator klobuchar. there's an old adage i was a young lawyer, i was a litigator and there's an old adage time honored in that profession that says that facts make bad law. hypothetical situations make worse law. in this case i would just urge the members of this committee not to make a decision based upon hypothetical threat. that's first. second of all, the very fact that music publishers we're talking about are big enough to make a threat that scares ascap and bmi should raise a lot of eyebrows on this committee, and at the department of justice. those withdrawals are best put in, as has been mentioned here, the possibility of those withdrawals are best put in the light of what might happen, if you take a look at what happened when they threatened them. they engaged immediately in occlusive and anti-competitive activity activity. if you want to see what will happen that gives you a pretty idea of what will happen. that i think should really raise some eyebrows and raise a question whether or not they

senator klobuchar. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i congratulate you on taking over the subcommittee. we don't have a formal passing of the gavel. here you go. thank you. and we have worked very well together as senator lee noted and i know the majesty, and i know that's going to continue. this hearing focuses on an important and timely topic. the state of competition in the music industry and a pair of antitrust consent decrease that govern licenses for the public performance of musical works. now we're not here to talk about the sound recording side of musical licensing, that set of copyrights is governed by a different structure and set of rules. today is about lyrics and composition that congress writers create music publishers network get out in the world and licenseees like broadcasters and digital music broadcasters make a better world. ascap and bm impbi, those consent decrees under which they operate have been modified several times in their history. it's appropriate from time to time for the doj to review these consent decr

first, a klobuchar-cornyn bill, as reported earlier this month by the judiciary committee. secondly, the cornyn-klobuchar bill also reported earlier this month by the judiciary committee but without the divisive language that limits victims' services. and third the leahy-collins-mikulski-ayotte amendment filed yesterday to protect runaway and homeless youths from trafficking. this trafficking prevention bill was reported by the judiciary committee last year with the support of senator grassley, senator cornyn, nearly all of the other judiciary committee members. it has been narrowed here at the request of republicans this year. i hope that a combination of these three bills that i do in good faith will bring us together. in response to the request of survivors, the many dedicateed people work with them to remove the unnecessary partisan provisions as a result of this impasse. they need us to find a way forward without playing politics and pass a meaningful bill. with that, mr. president i would request a number of groups and others who support this, that those letters be in

griffin. >> chairman lee, ranking member klobuchar, and members of the subcommittee. thank you for inviting me to testify today. i would like to thank you, thank you for your remarks about competition policy this were so foremost about protecting consumers. my name is jodie griffin and i'm a senior staff attorney at public knowledge, an organization that advocates for policies that promote freedom of expression, affordable communications and the public the ability to create and access creative work. before public knowledge i was a musician and helped launch and worked for the five time nominee -- grammy nominated some. this comes at a pivotal time for the music business. now more than ever it is crucial that policymakers promote competition and innovation in music description to benefit listeners and artists alike. music service give consumers convenient ways to legally access music at reasonable prices and they have the potential to give artists greater control over their own careers. however, this market is still new and it is still growing and it is crucial to enco

klobuchar: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: thank you. i'd like to first acknowledge senator mikulski and her leadership. anyone who wondered how hard she was going to keep working after she announced she wasn't going to run, i think i just saw the answer right right here. she's advocating for some incrediblely important bills and i'm also glad to see that senator shaheen and hirono are here and are going to speak shortly. given that i've been able to talk at length at the judiciary committee, i'm going to be brief and just say this. i have an important bill with senator cornyn and it's a bill a version of which has already passed by the house. the stop exploitation through trafficking acted. also senator cornyn has a bill with me and a number of other people called the justice for victims of trafficking act. my bill passed through the judiciary committee last week after the hearing that senator mikulski referred to 20-0 on a vote. and senator cornyn's

. >> i think my colleague from texas for his leadership on this legislation along with senator klobuchar and others to bring it to the floor. senator grassley is with us as chair of the committee. i appreciate the fact face to those who worked on the last few years are included in your legislation that you mentioned. sadly, some of the most vulnerable youth are those who are missing or in foster care kids who end up being unfortunately exposed to human trafficking sometimes trafficking. the idea of the missing legislation is very simple. let's help find these children as quickly as possible and having better information on them. i'll give you one example of that. in ohio 71 kids who have gone missing since january 1st. these are 71 children who are out there somewhere miners, for the 71 children we only have 22 photographs. so this is since january 1st. the legislation says let's get the data included in the photographs a while but cannot the opportunity to help find these young people before they might be calm subject to human trafficking. in ohio we unfortunately had this issue in all

klobuchar: exactly. i present that. i am hopeful that we will reach some agreement on that legislative floor and get some funding as well as the safe harbor bill that i'm leading to pass through this committee unanimously a few weeks ago. i think it is guidance and incentives for the state. the civil rights bill -- this marks the 50th anniversary. so many people gathered in selma. half a century later, we have made tremendous progress in ensuring voting rights, but i've been disappointed that we have not been able to move forward on the voting rights amendment act. as you know, there are some republicans that are close in the house. what are your plans to ensure the justice department remains committed to protecting the right to vote? sally quillian yates: i was incredibly privileged to be in some of the anniversary and i think that congressman lewis is presence earlier today is a really powerful reminder of the sacrifices that he and our other fellow citizens have made to ensure that sally quillian yates: it can become

she came to testify along with senator ayotte from new hampshire and senator klobuchar at that hearing and talked about how really important as was to all 20 of our women senators and how proud they were of the fact that a move forward and it wouldn't have happened without the senator from iowa the chairman of the judiciary committee willing to take that challenge up and to move the bill to the floor in a unanimous fashion. but i would just close mr. president by saying that all members of the united states senate presumably came here to try to do something important. not just to march in place for a fill up space that could presumably they have spent time away from their families. they go through the rigors of political campaigns. they suffer the slings and arrows of partisan politics in order to turn -- try to do something good, to try to help people who cannot help themselves. and so here is a perfect opportunity to do exactly that. we are not asking people to do anything extraordinary -- extraordinarily, certainly not something they haven't done before which is to vote on a languag

originally offered by senator leahy, and the stop ploy station through trafficking act offered by senator klobuchar. we know that congress can work on a bipartisan basis to effectively address this issue. i urge my colleagues, when we look at what we have done so far in this session of congress, we have very little to show for the time that we've spent here. this is an opportunity to pass a bipartisan human trafficking bill not a grab bag for every notion or idea that any senator has on any subject but one that addresses a very serious serious issue. i also know that another senator from louisiana on the republican side has an amendment which he wishes to offer on this bill which again has nothing to do with human trafficking. senator vitter offers an amendment that would denizenship at birth to children born in the united states -- citizenship at birnl to children born in the united states unless one of the parents is a u.s. citizen or an actively serving arm services member. let me begin with the obvious for my colleagues in the senate: birth right citizenship is a constitutional right. congress

there is kristin, amy klobuchar, elizabeth warren.oe biden. >> you have known both clintons for a long time. just describe your sense of where hillary clinton's head is at now on the precipice of a presidential run and where bill clinton's head is at? >> her head is that it's her term. that's the major rationale. i've paid my dues and put up with a lot of crap. i've put up with bill. it is my turn. bill says she is my wife and gives me the opportunity to be in the white house again. those were great times. let's do it again. for bill, it's like the rolling stones doing a tour at age 70. he wants to go back on the road. >> if she runs, you want her to be the next president. >> absolutely. whoever the democrat is, i want them to win. >> have you heard from other democrats about what you said? >> several indicated that she needs to be tested. if she gets through a tough primary and wins, fine. this entitlement, this anointment, this coronation is not good for the party. i had lunch with a woman today that said it's time we had a woman, a

senator klobuchar. >> thank you. ms. griffin, one of the things we know is that regardless of the consent decree review you're talking about some other things with senator lee not a possibility if we didn't have the consent decree i think he said that there would be a problem, from a consumer standpoint. but how about private enforcement of the antitrust law? even if doj isn't pursuing private parties can address the issue from the corporate d.c. downside on relying on private enforcement? >> yes, sir needed to my private enforcement would be that the parties bring the cases could likely be much smaller or at least it would make it relatively easy for a very large company, like it and/or or a large broadcaster to bring a suit, although that itself -- the little guy, it would be near impossible for the because of the expense. and also i would say that transparency plays an issue because part of the problem is it's difficult to bring an antitrust lawsuit against him some of if you don't know that they are coordinating. >>

amy klobuchar. a lot of names that match up the same experience in the republican party.'s a larger issue here which she can't come out and say. if she was totally honest she would. throughout my whole career people have been trying to get every piece of e-mail i have done and make a scandal out of it. i know the rules say your state department ones should be. we are getting to a place now, where we are so afraid of people looking into our e-mails like the nsa and we are trying to expose every politicians e-mails. >> it doesn't really explain, though, why she wouldn't work on the state department server for official business. >> any given day, i'll take an example from yesterday. we are talking andrew lack coming back here -- >> yeah, i get it. >> broadcasting board of governors. rick, my friend is there. it's difficult to say here is why one person is better than the other. >> if you were secretary of state, would you operate on your own server? >> i understand why you want to say wait let me tell you what i think. >> they have the regulations for a reason. if she's tell

justice for victims of trafficking act and i want to commend the numerous senators, senators cornyn, klobuchar so many others who have worked so hard to move this act forward. now, i realize that there are many of us who are new to this body and i certainly am still learning my way around the procedural maze here. however, it is easy to see how frustrating this maze can be and how it keeps us from getting good things done for the people who elected us and sent us here. last year, i traveled my state alaska and one of the top concerns i heard from alaskans is that they were tired of the gridlock and they want to see a functioning government and an open process in the united states senate, so here we are on a bill that is of immense importance to the country and to alaska, a bill that has very broad bipartisan support and it comes to the floor with the promise of an open amendment process so all senators can be heard, and yet a few of my friends on the other side of the aisle are preventing us from moving forward on a bill that will protect some of the nation's most vulnerable citizens. evidentl

senators klobuchar, leahy, long leaders on this issue but this year and we can talk about how it got in the bill -- many believe it was a slight of hand -- sleight of hand but it's in the bill. an abortion provision in this bill before the body for more than 25 years i had the pressure of serving with henry hyde in the house of representatives who is famous because he has penned the hyde language which deal with abortion. all of these 25 plus yearses that matter has been put over a year at a time. now, we've never chosen to make that permanent law. this year republicans have south to injection in this bill one of the most controversial issues over the last 40 years. a woman's right to choose. and don't take my word for it. leading republicans acknowledge that abortion politics -- gentlemen senator john cornyn said quote, this bill is being hijacked and used to debate something it doesn't have anything to do about and that is the subject of abortion. ... orrin hatch said -- quote -- "i can't believe the senate has become so political that we would raise that issue at this time on this

senator klobuchar. >> thank you. ms. griffin one of the things we know regardless of the consent decree review and you talk about some other other things as senator lee ever possibilities of the kidnapped the consent decree and there would be a problem not to have it from your perspective from a consumer standpoint but how about private enforcement of antitrust laws? even if doj is an competition issues private party can seek to address issues in the courts. do you see downsides to relying on private enforcement? >> guest senator. my concerned with private enforcement would be the parties bring the cases could likely be smaller or at least it would make it relatively easier for a very large company like a pandora or large broadcaster to bring a suit although that itself would not be prudent but the little guys who would be nearly impossible for them because of the expense and also as a transparency is an issue here. part of the problem is that it's difficult to bring antitrust lawsuit against somebody you don't know that

it's an issue that i and senator klobuchar have been very focused on because we've seen it happening in minnesota for some time. starting before i came to office, first with al shabaab and isil. i press the fbi director and others publicly on the issue over the years and it's something that i and senator klobuchar will continue to press doj on. last september, we urged the department to make sure it's focusing its resources on countering violent extremism in the united states and places where those efforts are needed most and we were pleased to see minnesota was chosen as one of those sights for the new doj pilot program. on that. we've been in touch with law enforcement as well as local community minnesota on an ongoing basis and i'm going to continue and so will senator klobuchar, the implementation of the program and we'll keep pressing the administration make sure both the state is getting the resources it needs and that the effective communities are fully engaged. real cooperation with the community and responsiveness is essential for this program's success. i understand you've

klobuchar: thank you very much. i first wanted to thank my colleagues who are continuing to work on this very important issue of sex trafficking. senator grassley, the chair of the judiciary committee and senator leahy the ranking member, who has long been working on this issue and has a very important bill of his own related to this, as well as senator cornyn. senator cornyn and i have worked together on the sex trafficking issue for the past year. we are cosponsors of each other's bills. we've worked in the past on other judiciary issues, including a successful bill on drug -- prescription takebacks where we just recently were able to get the rules out and got to work on that very important issue. and i thank him for his good work. we continue to work on the bill the justice for all bill. as we know, there's a major issue that's come up and we continue to look for a path forward on that issue. i do want to point out sometimes in all of the disagreements what gets lost is the good that needs to be done and why this

majority leader tom daschle of south dakota, senator shelby white house of rhode island, senator amy klobuchar of minnesota senator carl levin of michigan senator don ringle of michigan senator gordon smith of oregon mrs. irene noa, wife of the late senator daniel inouye of hawaii, senator chris dodd of connecticut, ms. catherine states -- stevens, wife of the late senator ted stevens of alaska, senator bob graham of florida, senator paul kirk of massachusetts, ladies and gentlemen. welcome back to the senate. [applause] please be seated. i would like to ask members of the house of representatives with us today, including the massachusetts delegation to stand as a group and be acknowledged. [applause] thank you all for being here. please seated, and i also want to acknowledge the government leaders from the commonwealth and from the city of boston that joined us today, the lieutenant governor, attorney general healy, state treasurer goldberg, state president stan rosenberg state speaker of the house, and the mayor of boston, marty walsh. [applause] and especially pleased to see so many future

senator klobuchar. >> thank you very much. i'm losing my voice but i want to thank everyone for coming and of course mr. bessac from target -- from cargill. i forget my nice company. from cargill, which is a great minnesota company, biggest private company in the country. and we have worked extensively with them on these transportation issues. so thank you for being here. i'm very glad that we were able to pass the user fee increase from the river act, and i appreciated all the work that people who transport on the river did to get that bill done. as you know, it was part of the able ec. can you talk about what the increased revenue will mean for improving locks and dams on our nation's inland waterway system? >> senator i'm sorry. my area of expertise is in pork exports. i know cargill is very interested in building a strong infrastructure so that we can compete on the global scale. i'd be happy to get you a written answer from our corporate affairs staff so that we can -- >> but you're glad that we passed the bill so you can

mentioned as bench warmers potential ones andrew cuomo, bernstein's piece, cuomo, tim caine, amy klobuchar is not given props the man who released a vine doing pirks accept quurlzcurls for physical fitness. joe biden, what is happening there, nick what is the point of the video? >> in spring training for a camp. >> get on the bench. >> he's had a rehabilitation as vice president. he has been running for president for almost two decades, more than that maybe, so it's not exactly a perfect counter-point to hillary clinton. he is the vice president. if for some reason he chose to run, that will be quite a battle but again, if you talk to all the people who can get behind the candidate, donors activists, organizations, they don't have like a quuplecouple of top choice, they have one choice. >> one choice. there are a lot more candidates running potentially on the right side. >> yes. >> and a new tax plan that marco rubio trouted out which cuts the capital gain rate to zero. host of really irresponsible things that would blow i think a $2.4 trillion cost the government in lost revenue over ten

senator klobuchar senator cornyn, others who have been concerned about this. i think of a victim that i've talked with holly austin smith. she's just 14 years old when she ran away from home. she quickly became a victim of human trafficking. she met a man at a shopping mall who told her she was pretty and promised he would give her a glamorous life in california. remember she's 14 years old. instead, he sold her for sex. the first man she was sold to commented she reminded him of his own granddaughter. but then he paid $200 to rape her. thankfully holly escaped has rebuilt her life. she's now a fierce advocate to end all forms of human trafficking because she knows what happens in human trafficking. but many are not so lucky. the physical and psychological scars of being bought and sold, of being raped management imtimes a night by different men are devastating. and this terrible crime destroys lives. as we consider legislation to combat human trafficking, we have to remember holly and the thousands of other vulnerable and victimized children she represents. a

i am grateful for senator klobuchar's initiative in addressing that problem. her stop explosion through trafficking act properly identifies children lured into prostitution as victims not criminals. by encouraging states to adopt safe harbor laws, we are better equipped to help victims receive the care and treatment that they deserve. senator cornyn's justice for victims of trafficking act also aids these victims by establishing a special fund that will provide them more of the resources they need to repair their shattered lives. senator cornyn's bill also imposes severe penalties on traffickers including heavier fines than the justice department -- that the justice department will direct toward victim compensation. i strongly support both of these bills and i'm grateful for my colleagues' enormous efforts in building a coalition to combat this scourge. mr. president, human trafficking is a complex problem and solving it requires a multifront approach. it is a problem of both supply and demand. in addition to passing this legislation, we must also address the

. >> thank you senator klobuchar. senator udall. >> thank you very much chairman thune and thank you for focusing this hearing on this very very important topic. let me first just say that i want firstnet to succeed, ensuring our nation's first responders have the communication tools they need. should be a top priority of this committee. despite lessons learned from the terrorist attacks of 9/11 our first responders still do not have nationwide interoperable communication networks. as many of you know in an emergency this can be a matter of life and death. in my home state of new mexico i'm pleased that the recovery act broadband grant helps upgrade the state's public safety communications. this hopefully puts my stayed a step ahead as first firstnet becomes our fur ball. one concern i have is that congress sometimes makes good policies but then fails to follow through by adequately funding their implementation and i think that could well be the case here. building firstnet is no easy task and wants congress to give f

for victims of trafficking act introduced by senator cornyn and his democrat colleague, senator klobuchar would give voices to the voiceless and justice to the children suffering in the shadows. there-- their bipartisan human rights bill may not be long but it is effective and transparent. this bill is available for any senator and member of the public to read since january. this bipartisan legislation was considered and strengthened in an open and transparent committee process and this human rights bill conforms with long-standing bipartisan law that so many of our democratic friends have supported repeatedly. it's no wonder that once senators read the bill, they can't seem to help but support it. we welcome the 13 democratic cosponsors of this human rights bill. we welcome the messages of support of our democratic friends have delivered as well. here's what one democratic senator from new york had to say just a few days ago: we should pass senator cornyn's justice for victims trafficking act. this bipartisan bill would support programs and ensure the johns who are buying trafficking vic

been offered on human trafficking by republican senator cornyn and democrat is -- democrat senator klobuchar. there are amendments pending one by senator leahy about runaway children. in fact, we're so prepared to do this that we have put together a comprehensive execute amendment to what has just dn described which could be quickly passed on the floor. i don't believe there would be a hand full of senators voting "no." i certainly would support the passage of the leahy version. what is the difference? senator cornyn has injected into this important issue a side issue but not an inconsequential one on the hyde amendment. henry hyde was a congressman from illinois who served in the house of representatives with me for a period of time. he authored the hyde amendment that said no federal funds shall be used to pay for abortion procedures except in very limited circumstances: rape, incest and life of the mother. and that has been put in appropriations bills every year since without question, without challenge. what senator cornyn is trying to do is to make this permanent law and make it part of

opportunity to discuss the importance of alzheimer's disease and also commend senators collins and klobuchar for introducing the resolution to double the funding for alzheimer's disease research in 2016 and achieve the goal of increasing the annual research budget. in 2010, congress passed and the president signed into law in 2011 the national alzheimer's act, requiring the secretary of health and human services to generate the first plan for this country to address alzheimer's disease. the advisory council completed recommendations for the 2015 plan in january. the primary goal of the plan as dr. hodes just mentioned is to effectively treat and prevent alzheimer's disease by 2025. this goal is but a short 10 years away. an essential feature of the recommendation submitted to the secretary and the congress includes the recommendation that the federal government spend at least $2 billion a year in research on alzheimer's disease. as chairman collins has indicated, this figure is -- pales in comparison to what we spend on cancer, hiv-aids and cardiovascular disease, yet in those diseases there

senator klobuchar. >> thank you. miss griffin one of the things that we know is that regardless of the consent decree review, some of the other possibilities if we didn't have the consent decree and i think you said there would be a problem not to have it from your perspective, from a consumer standpoint. but enforcement of the antitrust laws. even if doj isn't pursuing competition issues private parties can still seek to address the issues in the courts. do you see downsides on relying on private enforcement? >> yes, my concerns would be that the parties bringing the cases could likely be much smaller or at least it could make it relatively easier for a large company like a pandora or a large broadcaster to bring a suit although that itself would be -- but the little guys, it would be near impossible for them because of the expense and also, i would say that transparency plays an issue here. it's difficult to bring an antitrust lawsuit against somebody you don't know that they are coordinating. >> very good. mr. don

bill, and in that vote this morning john barrasso at the meeting of senate democrats including amy klobuchar, senators lay my fine stein -- haily coons and blumenthal all voted against cloture today but voted for that bill in committee, so we're likely to see additional votes on that if not today, in the coming weeks. you're seeing on your screen reports that various news courses aaron -- reports aaron shock resigning from congress. now to the senate floor on c-span2. importance of international trade and the enforcement of international trade agreements. we talk a lot about international trade in this chamber and frame minute terms of opening new markets -- in terms of opening new markets with new trade agreements. but as the certainly distinguished chair of the senate understands while it's important to ensure future agreements are fair for workers and business it's, we should be going more time to the 290 trade agreements that we already have. and after -- ask ourselves are we doing a all that we can to ensure that we're enforcing these trade agreements on behalf of american businesses an

it is modeled very much on a bill that senator klobuchar and i have introduced to increase funding for alzheimer's research. just yesterday mr. president the senate aging committee which i lead, along with senator mccaskill, held an extensive hearing on alzheimer's disease. we listened from preeminent researchers, from individuals like b. smith who unfortunately has been inflicted with early onset alzheimer's. we listened to a caregiver and from a geriatric physician from portland maine. we had testimony from the mayo clinic. we had testimony from the individual who heads the institutes on aging at the national institutes of health. and to a person, they pointed out that we are spending $226 billion a year caring for people with alzheimer's and yet we are investing less than $600 million in this disease. the experts tell us that if our investment were at the level of $2 billion a year, that we could explore the promising breakthroughs, the therapeutic targets that are needed to develop a means of prevention or better treatments or ultimately even a cure for alzheimer's. and think of it

also amy klobuchar. >> the first female senator from minnesota. >> great picture of her. >> well thankut of the hospital while she had to leave her sick baby in the hospital. she said this isn't right. i shouldn't be separated at this point and started to fight for mother's rights and women's rights. >> yeah. >> my friend gwen ifill. >> gwen the dean of the washington press corps. you know again, just an incredibly sort of important journalist in washington, but also, you know i was talking with her and said what's it like to be able to get anybody on the phone? she said just about anybody. but, you know you guys probably get pretty much anybody on the phone, too. >> except for gwen. >> hard to reach. >> except for gwen. >> what was your criteria for coming up with these ladies? >> again power. i mean that's one thing. you know. you know that men sort of run things in washington. it's important for us to bring all of these women together and show what that looks like and i will tell you, it's about the list but also an event we do. we did it two nights ago. the most interesting thing a

senators cornyn and klobuchar for all their work. i see senator wyden is here, senator leahy is here, senator grassley is here; others who have been involved in this, they and their staffs are to be commended because this has been a argue process in my view. it is an issue a lot of us care about and why? because it affects our states and our constituents in very significant ways. last year i cofounded and now cochair the caucus on human trafficking with senator blumenthal and we've had good meetings and conferences on the hill raising the awareness of this issue. this horrible crime affects every single part of our country. in ohio, this came to my attention initially because in parts of ohio particularly in toledo there were higher incidents of prosecutions of human trafficking. a school group brought this to my attention several years ago. the more we looked into it the more we realized this affects so many of our students, particularly children, runaways, the missing. on the greatest country on the face of the earth almost 300,000

opportunity to discuss the importance of alzheimer's disease and also commend senators collins and klobuchar introducing the resolution to double the funding for alzheimer's disease research in 2016 and achieve the goal of increasing the annual research budget. in 2010, congress passed and the president intined -- signed into law in 2011 the national alzheimer's act, requiring the secretary of health and human services to generate the first plan for this country to address alzheimer's disease. the advisory council completed recommendationers in 2015 plan in january. the primary goal of the plan as dr. hodes just mentioned is to effectively treat and prevent alzheimer's disease by 2025. this goal is but a short 10 years away. an essential feature of the recommendation submitted to the secretary and the congress includes the recommendation that the federal government spend at least $2 billion a year in research on alzheimer's disease. as chairman collins has indicated, this figure is -- pales in comparison to what we spend on cancer, hiv-aids and cardiovascular disease yet in those diseases th