klobuchar: i think congress will act. we will start with hearings, and senator mccain chairs the armed services committee and he wants to have hearings in january and we would like to see them in the judiciary committee, where i serve. there will be hearings in the intelligence committee. i think there will be bipartisan support for moving forward with these sanctions. of course, that is not necessary with the sanctions president obama outlined today. only if somehow the president-elect reversed them. but i wouldn't be surprised to see congress go even further. kasia: that was senator amy klobuchar, actually talking about cyber crime with the republican senators john mccain and lindsey graham. we have much more decals on this story, developing story, on the bbc website. you can find up-to-the-minute information on the russian and u.s. reaction coming in so far. that is all at bbc.com/news. in other news, a cease-fire agreed by the syrian government and rebel factions is coming into effect right now. the deal was brokered

senator klobuchar. sen. klobuchar: thank you. senator mikulski was giving the closing speech at first in a career, and then we had a big event on cuba. so, mr. cuban, i was with the cubans. i wanted to kind of go back to some of these cost issues. mr. kimmelman, the money the typical american household spends on these services is on a $700 per year and continues to trouble me, -- is $2700 per year, and it continues to trouble me, and i am concerned this transaction will not reduce that burden. there is a chance you will increase it. is that a legitimate concern, and why? that is then: baseline, and it is a result of consolidation and limited regulatory oversight during periods of that that has enabled prices to the inflated. there is competition on the margin, new competition coming from new sources, but it is harder to squeeze that out. i will say that with what is being offered now in the market that includes what time warner is offering and at&t, there is hope the online platform is opening up some, and they are offering new p

i know senator klobuchar is. thank you. >> thank you senator leahy. your questions and those will be submitted by chairman grassley and anyone else will be admitted without objection. okay. we're now going to turn to our witnesses. i'm going to introduce them and then we'll swear them in and hear from each of the witnesses. we'll start from my left and move to my right. randall stephenson is the chairman and ceo of at&t. he was named to his current position in 2007. at&t has invested to become a global leader in providing integrated communications services to businesses and consumers. hang on. make sure that i don't mess yours up. video entertainment high speed entertainment mobility to ip network services and the internet of things. mr. stephenson began his career with southwestern bell's telephone company in 1982 in oklahoma. he served as the company's senior executive vice president and chief financial officer from 2001 to 2004 and from 2004 to 2007, he served as the chief operating officer. he was appointed to at&t's board of drctors in 2005. he's

we asked senator klobuchar about president obama's sanctions. that this is a very strong initial start. i think more will happen. we are going to have hearings in congress. we finally have a public report that declassifies some of this information. i am in lithuania right now with senatorjohn mccain and senator lindsey graham and we are here to stand up for our allies in eastern europe and nato, and to also make the point that this isn't about one political party. i am a democrat, they are both republicans, one was the republican candidate for president, and we see this as not about one candidate or one party but as an assault on democracy. this is something that is notjust about american democracy, it is about all democracies. there are upcoming elections in germany and france, and for the us to just roll over and let this happen with no response would have been a huge mistake. katie bo williams, national security reporter at the hill, a us political website, believes the sanctions can be seen as something of an empty gesture. well, there are c

we'll go next to senator klobuchar. >> thank you very much mr. chairman. mr. stephenson, i'll start with your initial question about the prices for consumers and i know you focused on the last deal with directv and what it come out of that. just to be clear, this acquisition, do you believe that it's going to lower prices for customers for directv, broadband services and mobile services, you want to take each one. >> i can and intend to represent to you by virtue of innovation with time warner and going head to head against the cable providers, with new products and new capabilities that we will bring the consumer better priced options than what they have today, to take each one of those apart, i find difficult, because the consumer has gotten to a place where they're not pro curing each one of those independently. that's the reason why we're pricing at&t right now. think of what we're trying to do, we're going against a cable provider to compete. you buy tv service from a cable provider today, you spend $50 to $100 per month regardless of how much you watch,

klobuchar: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: madam president, i have several topics to talk about today, but i wanted to start with a very important letter that was sent to president-elect trump this week. as members and friends of the senate ukrainian caucus, 27 senators, including myself, came together to advocate and make clear that we wanted to continue the strong united states-ukrainian relationship that our two countries have enjoyed for many, many years and to convey our support for ukraine and ask the president-elect and the new administration to support our ally ukraine and to help it secure a peaceful and democratic future. almost three years after russia's illegal annexation of crimea and the military aggression in eastern ukraine, daily cease-fires along the line of contact make a mockery of the minsk agreement and demonstrate that the conflict in the heart of europe is far from over. russia continues to engage in sabotage. it has not halted its disinformation war against ukraine or the west nor stopped th

i'm glad that senator lee and senator klobuchar are having this hearing. i'll resist the temptation to go through the list of which shows i like the most and which things i use the most. i see too many people i know in the audience that i'm afraid i'll either make some happy or unhappy, depending on what i include or leave out. but i think it is an important hearing, because the proposed -- we have to agree the proposed $85.5 million merger can dramatically transform our nation's telecommunications and media landscape to combine two titans of industry. this kind of a massive consolidation of distribution and content, it raises serious questions. what does it do for competition, or consumer choice, or privacy across the media, or pay tv, wireless, broadband industries. we have to look at that carefully. 130 million americans depend upon at&t for their wireless internet access. last year, the acquired directv satellite television service, how is it going to acquire time warner's content. these raise the questions, the obvious questions about whether at&t cou

stories with your family and how you ever decided to take this journey. >> guest: well, senator klobuchar, my colleague, you said it was an honor to interview me. i'm so excited that you agreed to do this because it's says a lot about our relationship, the warmth we share and i'm so thrilled and as you know, i'm going to get to your question in a second. but the fact is, the warm relationships that have developed between the women senators and, frankly, a lot of the men, barbara mccosky call the sir gal lad. means so much to me. i'm not running again and people say, why? -under are you disgust evidence with the place? not at all. just feel after 40 years therer people like you who can carry the ban sore we have our colleague from book, we have you interviewing me. just couldn't be more thrilled. but getting to the issue of how did it get tough, what was my life like when i was a child, which in this memoir, when i sat down to write it so long ago, took three years to put it together. it's a lot of effort. when i first thought about it i thought, it's going by my dad who had all the influe

now you are and i know senator klobuchar is. thank you. >> thank you, senator leahy. your questions and those to be smidted by chairman grassily and even else will bev submitted without objection. we'll now turn the witnesses. i'm going to introduce them and then we'll swear them in. start from my left and move to my right. randall stephenson is the chairman and ceo of at. he bass named to his current position 2002, sin then tat tat as investedded to become a global leader to businesses and consumers. hang on. going to make sure i don't mess yours up. the entertainment, high speed internet and mobility to ip network services and the internet of things. mr. stephenson began his career with southwestern bell in 1982 in oklahoma. served as the company's senior executive vice president and chief financial officer from 2001 to 2004, and from 2004 to 2007 he was the chief operating officer some aopinioned to board of directors for at&t in 2005. the member of board of directors are emerson electrickics and boeing. mr. stephenson received his bs in accounting from the univers

senator klobuchar. >> thank you very much. i apologize for leaving. senator mikulski was giving a closing speech of her senate career and then we had a big event on cuba, and i carried the bill to lift the embargo, so as opposed to mr. cuban, i was with the cubans. i want to go back to these cost issues, mr. kimmelman, the money the typical american household which you mentioned spends on these services, $2700 per year, continues to trouble me, and i'm concerned that this transaction won't reduce that burden, and i think you argue there could be a chance that it would increase it. is this a legitimate concern, and why? >> senator klobuchar, i think that that's the baseline and it is the result, if you look at a 20-year period, of consolidation and limited regulatory oversight during periods of that that have enabled prices to be inflated. there is competition on the margin, there's new competition coming from new sources but it's hard to squeeze that out. i will say that with what is being offered now in the market that includes what time warner is of

two democratic senator, chris coons of delaware and amy klobuchar from minnesota discuss congress and the incoming trump administration. they talk about president trumps alleged social media usage, his position on health care, and recent cabinet picks. the event also included questions from students. this is an hour and 15 minutes. we will open up our phone lines around 2:30 p.m. eastern to get your thoughts. >> ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the george washington university and the jack morton auditorium. tonight, as with many that have taken place recently in universities, homes, forums, , and places of congregation throughout the tonight is an event of careful reflection on our future. as we move through the annals of in the wake of the recent presidential election. as is the tradition of the george washington university and our renew -- our renowned school we exchanged some of the most delicate issues of our time. conversations series has a long tradition of bringing together some of the leading minds in politics and media to engage in a healthy debate to advance our democracy a

senator amy klobuchar from minnesota. and i'm very eager to talk to her. she actually was named first for the most billed or sponsored oco -- cosponsored by senator. where there's convert gridlock prevents most of the time she's had a lot more success than more people. let's jump right into the conversation. congresswoman blackburn blackbuo talk about the trump transition. we have been very focused on all the things happening. hillary clinton pledged to have at least half of the cabinet be women. so far doctor has had three. nikki haley as a u.n. ambassador and betsy devos for education secretary. how important is it that women are part of his? >> i think it is important that women be there but it think the most important thing we want to focus on is having the most well-qualified person for the job, and making certain that those of us who were working on the transition are pushing forward qualified women to fill those roles. when you talk about breaking glass ceiling you once have to talk about breaking the glass ceiling the right way. so that it stays br

she's followed by several other speakers including senator amy klobuchar and new york representativeelise stefanik. held by politico and google, this is two hours. >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome politico executive director of events, alexis raise . [applause] >> high. wow. good morning everyone, i'm alexis, executive director of events for politico and thank you all so much for being here. on the half of our ceo and publisher and doctor elaine albritton, it is such a pleasure to look out to this crowd and see you all this morning. we are, everyone knows this but our fourth annual women rule summit and i can say that i am proud, it's an amazing humbling moment to be here in front of all you, for years in the making for this program so thank you for that. as you can imagine, it takes a total army to pull something like this off and by this i mean not just a big event has been a herculean fee but also the women rule series so i want to say a couple quick things to these amazing individuals that have put this all together. behind me on the politico side, catherine rossdale who h

. >> reporter: senator amy klobuchar, the ranking democrat, said after the hearing it wasn't designedo necessarily support or oppose the deal, but to get senators on the record and to get some questions answered. now it will be up to donald trump's department of justice to decide the fate of the deal. for "nightly business report," i'm eamon javers in washington. >>> and a bit later in our program, we'll look at some of the changes that could come to the media sector under the trump administration. >>> one slice of the market that did not participate in the rally today was the drug sector. health care shares fell on comments from donald trump who was named "time" magazine's person of the year today. in his interview with "time," the president-elect said, "i'm going to bring down drug prices. i don't like what has happened with drug prices" and that sent shares with pfizer and johnson & johnson and merck, only three components to fall in today's session. >>> reforming the health care industry is one of the top priorities of the new congress. donald trump has appointed a fierce critic o

but senator klobuchar, when you think of the changed landscape and this changed role of the senate of which you are not a majority, what do you anticipate? >> first of all, i would agree with my colleagues that it's going to be an unpredictable time. we don't know exactly what this is going to look like. what we do know is that the democrats in the senate are going to have power because of the senate rules. >> the democrats are going to have power? >> yes. we have 48 democratic votes right now, and senator mcconnell has said he's going to keep in place the senate rules, at least that's what he said at a dinner that i attended. and so if that is the case, then we have the fact that you need 60 votes on most legislation. there are exceptions for budgets and other things. there's exceptions, of course, for cabinet nominees. there's an exception for judges but not for the supreme court if that remains the same. we were taking that at a 60-vote margin, and we assume that's what's going to happen with the republican majority again. so given all that, we do have power, and i think we have to

senator klobuchar. >> thank you very much. i apologize for leaving. senator mikulski was giving a speech on her career and we had a meeting on cuba to lift the embargo so as opposed to mr. cuban, i was with the cubans. i want to go back to these cost issues, mr. kimmelman, the money the typical american household spends on these services, $2700 per year, continues to trouble me and i'm concerned that this transaction will reduce that burden and i think you argue there could be a chance that it would increase it is this a legitimate concern and why? >> senator klobuchar, i think that that's the baseline and it is the result, if you look at a 20-year period, of consolidation and limited regulatory oversight during periods of that that have enabled prices to be enlate inned. there is competition on the margin, there's new competition coming from new sources but it's hard to squeeze that out. whether will say that with what is being offered in the market that includes what time warner is offering and at&t, there is hope. the online platform is opening up

amy klobuchar is on this trip with us.emocrat from minnesota. 99 of us believe the russians did this. we're going to do something about it. along with senator mccain. we'll have the hearings and put sanctions together that hit putin as an individual, and his inner circle, for interfering in our election. they're doing it all over the world, not just in the united states. estonia is hit all the time. they're interfering in elections in democratic countries' efforts to self-determination all over the world. it's not just in our back yard. >> senator graham, you are right in the middle of it there, in the baltics, arguably the most nervous nato allies right now in light of russia's moves in ukraine, crimea, et cetera. >> right. >> what are they expressing to you about their concerns about trump's commitment to nato as well as his cozier relationship with russia? how concerned are they? >> well, what they are telling us is that there has been a massive russian military build up along the borders. the russians are increasing mi

. >> there are 100 united states senators, amy klobuchar is on this trip with us.e is a democrat from minnesota. i would say that 99 of us believe the russians did this, and we're going to do something about it. along with senator mccain, after this trip is over, we're going to have the hearings and we're going to put sanctions together that hit putin as an individual and his inner circle for interfering in our election. and they're doing it all over the world, not just in the united states. estonia is hit all the time. they are interfering in elections in democratic countries' efforts to self-determination all over the world. it's just not in our back yard. >> do you think that the u.s. senate led by republicans will push back on president-elect donald trump who has been dismissing the conclusion of the intelligence agencies? >> i mean, it strikes me as a little optimistic. i like lindsey a lot. he may have heard his leader senator mcconnell say something in private that he hasn't said publicly. he favors an investigation in the intelligence committee, most of whi

amy klobuchar is on the trip with us. a democratic in minnesota. 99 of us believe the russians did this, and we're going to do something about it, along with senator mccain after the trip is over, we'll have the hearings and put sanctions together that hit putin as an individual, and his inner circle, for interfering in our election. they're doing it all over the world, not just in the united states. estonia is hit all the time. they're interfering in elections in democratic countries' efforts to self-determination all over the world. just not in our back yard. >> this is not the sort of thing a new president, a new administration, wants to be bogged down with right off the start, is it? >> it's absolutely not. i think this kind of foreshadows what we'll see as a fascinating dynamic between capitol hill republicans and president-elect trump's administration when it comes to foreign policy and a bevy of issues. this is a particular issue that senator graham noted in the interview with jim sciutto has drawn together republi

>> there are 100 united states senators, amy klobuchar is on this trip with us, she's a democrat from minnesota. 99 of us believe the russians did this and we'll do something about it along with senator mccain, we'll have the hearings and put sanctions together that hit put putin as an individual and his inner circle for interfering with our election. they do it all over the world. estonia is hit all the time. they're interfering in elections and democratic country's efforts to self-determination all over the world, just not in our backyard. >> shelby, do you see president-elect trump coming around on russia? what happens if he continues to cast doubt? >> we don't see him coming around, at least not to the and point of these republicans in congress, that makes his picks for his cabinet interesting. l they be more friendly towards russia? rex tillerson, his pick for secretary of state has a relationship with putin, we're not sure if he will be friendlier towards russia at this point but there are people in donald trump's cabinet like retired general james mattis who have taken a pretty

chuck schumer, is strongly on board, as our senators elizabeth warren, tammy baldwin commie amy klobuchar, al franken, chris murphy, and tammy duckworth, and i want to thank all of them. [applause] mr. sanders: and there are many, many colleagues of keith in the house, many others who are supporting him. too many to name, and i want to thank them also. and i also want to thank mayor bill de blasio of new york, who ith's came on board ke campaign. thank you very much, merida blog seo. i want to thank the afp and forident randi weingarten allowing us to use their beautiful facility to live stream throughout the country. thank you very much. now the thank you's are over, let's get to the meat of the issue. you've got to be polite. what we are doing tonight is not sexy, and it's not going to make the headlines of the newspapers all over the country. but it is unprecedented for the democratic party and for the long-term future of our country, and it is of enormous consequence. turnout, of low voter at a time, as you all know, when millions of americans are demoralized politically and are sick

for more on this, let me bring in democratic senator amy klobuchar, who is traveling right now in russia's neighbors, the baltic states. she, senators lindsey graham and john mccain are in lithuania. the senator joins me by phone. can you hear me? >> yes, i can. thanks for having me on. >> thanks for jumping on the phone. really appreciate it. these sanctions that will be announced from the president, do you think the sanctions the president will be rolling out go far enough or do you still think congress needs to act as well? >> well, i do think congress has to act if two ways. first of all, i'm pleased that president obama is moving forward. the one thing we have learned in the baltic states is they have seen this movie before. this is not about one country or one country's election. estonia was attacked in 2007 just for moving a bronze statue, cyberattacked. lithuania was attacked. members of parliament, there were attempts to spy on them, bug them and when they invited members of crimea parliament in, they actually cut off their web access and did a cyberattack. this is something that

trump and a concern that's coming out today has to do with russia, and joining me now is senator amy klobuchar, a democratic from minnesota. thanks for being with me. >> thank you, kate. >> i want to get to rue sha ass ukraine and your letter but first i feel like i need to ask you because we're down to the wire on a friday afternoon on funding the government. senator man dhchin is threateni to delay a vote on this big spending vote. where are we at this hour, 3:00 eastern time? >> well, we're standing with senator manchin in trying to get everything we can for those coal miners. they were promised health benefits way back with president truman. 16,000 coal miners and widows and retirees just got notices that they weren't going to have their health care, and that's what we're trying to fix and we're trying to get as good a deal as possible and no one is going to stand up for them more than senator manchin but he's got a bunch of us with him in trying to push the best thing we can get and that's why the negotiations are still going on with senator mcconnell. >> so it could be a really, really l

i spoke to senator amy klobuchar in the last hour and also senator graham said this just this week. >uld say we believe the russians did this and we'll do something about it. we're going to put sanctions together that hit putin as an individual and his inner circle for interfering in our election. and they're doing it all over the world, not just in the united states. >> what would a fight between bipartisan congressional effort and a president trump look like on this? >> yes, it would be a pretty harsh welcome to governing for donald trump if he decides to try to roll back these sanctions. that's one of the reasons the white house is making a big to do about them. and rolling them out when they are. they want to make sure it's very hard for the trump administration if they so choose to roll these back. both publicly and with congress. and lindsey graham and john mccain and i'm sure, you know, you'll hear other people, once people get back in town, really speak out against russia. it's a really tough position. particularly for republicans to be in. who have been very critical of russi

. >> there are 100 united states senators, amy klobuchar is on this trip with us.'s a democrat from minnesota. i would say that 99 of us believe the russians did this. and we're going to do something about it. along with senator mccain, after this trip's over. we're going to have the hearings and we're going to put sanctions together that hit hewitten as an individual, and his inner circle, for interfering in our election. >> well, the senator mentioned there, many of his senate colleagues agree with him. among them, as he mentioned, john mccain. for his part the arizona senator tells cnn he was, quote, shocked to hear that the president-elect disregarded the findings of the cia and the fbi but mccain added there could be one thing that changes trump's mind. >> i think he will be when presented with the overwhelming evidence, change his view. >> all right with me again jason johnson. david rohde, and jason johnson. what is that assumption from senator mccain based on? donald trump has the information. he's been briefed and still he says he's not convinced that russ

in recent days, senior republican senators, mccain and graham joined senator klobuchar in a trip to a number of our allies, estonia, baltic state, nato member, as well as germany and ukraine. i led a trip back in august and many democrats and republicans have visited these countries in order to assure them that the irresponsible statements by donald trump when he was a candidate suggesting that he might walk back our support for nato, suggesting that he might sell ukraine down the river in some deal with putin after being installed as president in january, i don't think you're going to see a lot of bipartisan support for some of the more outrageous suggestions made by donald trump in the campaign. and it my hope that he will hear statements made by a wide range of republicans and democrats, as they have traveled to eastern and central european countries, as a suggestion that he should take a deep breath, get a real briefing from the intelligence community, and reach the conclusion many of us have reached on our visits to our allies, that standing up to vladimir putin is in america's i

klobuchar: and you have extended that kindness to so many since then. vice president mondale, another minnesotan has great affection and love if you and i'll report back to him tonight that i was here with you today. and when i first got elected to the senate and made one of my first speeches about police funding to a completely empty chamber and i thought even my mom wasn't watching on c-span, i walked out of this place and i got a phone call on my cell phone and it was joe biden, then a senator saying, that was a really great speech. and when you came to my state and one of my best friends suddenly lost her husband and you heard about it, you did not know who she was. you just heard the story and two weeks on her first day back at work, she was driving home and she got a call from you. and you talked to her for 20 minutes. and when you were done and had given her all this wonderful advice, you said, we're not done. i want you to write down my phone number. and she said, i'm driving, mr. vice president. i can't do that. and you said, pull over. and she

amy klobuchar is here. she did a lot in getting this done, promoting travel to get foreigners to come here, come to america. it worked out so well. seven different clotures i had to file on that to get it done but we got it done finally. it's been remarkably good for america. other countries, you'll see them on tv. they're always advertising about come visit australia, come visit the bahamas, come visit england, come visit every place. now we've got advertising around the world, come visit america. now everyone knows that las vegas gets its, more than its share probably of visitors, but it was good for nevada but it was also good for the country. nevada test site workers. we were the cold war veterans in nevada. it was a big project. we had 11,000, 12,000 workers there at one time. an above-ground test, i could remember seeing them. we were a long ways away in searchlight, but you would see that flash. you wouldn't always feel it. sometimes it would bounce over searchlight. but it was really a big deal. we

and senator amy klobuchar from minnesota. she actually just was named billed,r the most sponsored or cosponsors by a center. in a town where gridlock prevails most of the time, she has had a lot of success. let's jump right into the conversation. i want to talk to you congresswoman about the trump transition. we are focused on all the minutia that is happening. clinton pledged to have at least half of the cabinet the women. so far donald trump has had three. as u.s. ambassador -- how important is it that you think women is -- are part of his cabinet? marsha: it is important but the most important thing we want to focus on 70 most well-qualified person for the job and making certain that those of us working on the transition are pushing forward qualified women to fill the roles. when you talk about breaking a glass ceiling you always have to talk about breaking the glass ceiling the right way so that it stays broken and clears the path for other women to come along behind you. that is a part of our focus. also, these are such

i talked to amy klobuchar on this subcommittee, she said the whole purpose of this is not to get in theay of the deal, but to get senators on the record and get some questions answered and they did do that today. >> thank you very much. >>> a closer look now at at&t. shares up today by more than almost 3%, up 17% this year. does the rally have more room to go? we have a classic bull/bear debate now. jennifer fitchy and craig move et and julia boorstin. congress doesn't approve or not approve a merger. the doj, possibly the fcc could play a role as to whether or not this goes through. the subcommittees oversee the doj. it is important. from that standpoint, do you think it was a convincing case that it is not a matter of competing against the likes of a comcast, but really redrawing the lines of competition to include the googles of the world. >> well, yes and no. look, the -- antitrust issues that this raises are all vertical. and i think it got a relatively gentle treatment. our view now is that the deal is probably more likely than not to get approved. and that the vertical issues, wh

so i share the concern that we've heard from senator heitkamp and from senator klobuchar that the longer we delay in approving the nomination of mark mcwaters, that the longer we delay in making sure that ex-im is fully operational, the more jobs will be lost, the more difficult it will be for companies to compete and the more money will be lost to the u.s. treasury. so, mr. chairman, i hope that under the new administration, there is more of a willingness on the part of my colleagues to actually approve these nominations and to move government forward so that we can create jobs, we can address the economic challenges that too many people in this country are facing. thank you very much. i yield the floor, and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: mr. portman: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. portman: mr. president, i rise today tiewk about the heroin and prescription drug epidemic -- the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. portman: i ask that the quorum call be viti

senator klobuchar, members of the subcommittee.ublic knowledge today, i'm joined by consumer federation of america in our statement. i appreciate the opportunity to testify. mr. chairman -- >> that is mark cuban testifying on behalf of the time warner/at&t deal. obviously, a fan of the deal and taking a rather expansive view of the media landscape, comparing the mine share of a combined entity to a facebook or a google or even video games. in cuban's words, "tv was once the best alternative to boredom." today that comes from an app. certainly the way they would want to frame this. >> that's certainly a favorable argument to be made in their favor as to why they are not going to be dominant providers of any kind in this new world that he described. >> yeah, sort of making the case that it's fragmented and you have to factor in -- what did he say, facebook, google, minecraft? >> well, his 7-year-old he said plays minecraft, an interesting little anecdote. >> mark cuban, media guru. >> yes. >> he's had a lot of success. >> yeah, he ha

klobuchar: and you have extended that kindness to so many since then. vice president mondale, another minnesotan has great affection and love if you and i'll report back to him tonight that i was here with you today. and when i first got elected to the senate and made one of my first speeches about police funding to a completely empty chamber and i thought even my mom wasn't watching on c-span, i walked out of this place and i got a phone call on my cell phone and it was joe biden, then a senator saying, that was a really great speech. and when you came to my state and one of my best friends suddenly lost her husband and you heard about it, you did not know who she was. you just heard the story and two weeks on her first day back at work, she was driving home and she got a call from you. and you talked to her for 20 minutes. and when you were done and had given her all this wonderful advice, you said, we're not done. i want you to write down my phone number. and she said, i'm driving, mr. vice president. i can't do that. and you said, pull over. and she

portman, whom i know is here today, senator sheldon whitehouse from rhode island and senator amy klobuchar from minnesota. the four of us came together and worked on what's called the comprehensive addiction and recovery act. this bill will provide a much-needed framework for addressing this epidemic, for prevention, treatment, recovery and support for our first responders who are doing so much for this epidemic. as a bipartisan team, we worked on this legislation for more than two years. our bill passed the senate overwhelmingly and was signed into law earlier this year. cara will focus on the best programs to help state and local efforts in turning around the tide of addiction that are facing so many in this country. cara is an important first step, but there is so much more work that needs to be done. i'm encouraged that because of our efforts, this body has recognized the seriousness of this crisis. i was particularly glad to advocate for a billion dollars in funding to address the heroin epidemic be included in the 21st century cures act, which we are expected to pass and send to the

o'rourke, and also on the senate side, senator cornyn and senator klobuchar to make sure we did it and doing it in a bipartisan way. again i yield back the balance of my time and i ask we pass this bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chafment massachusetts reserves. -- the gentleman from massachusetts reserves. the gentleman from louisiana. mr. boustany: i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from nevada, mr. amodei. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from nevada is recognized for three minutes. mr. amodei: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you to my major league from the pelican state and my colleague from the bay state. i'm nervous, i don't want to break up this lone star reunion here, but speaking from a small 34r5eus in the inner mountain west, section 481 addresses the c.b.p. staffing issue at smaller land port of entry parptse. as we all know the c.b.p. mission at our numerous ports of entry is growing and adequate staffing at the larger ports needs to be augmented. however airport authorities in smaller land ports of entry are also increasi

amy klobuchar is here. she did a lot in getting this done, promoting travel to get foreigners to come here, come to america. it worked out so well. seven different clotures i had to file on that to get it done but we got it done finally. it's been remarkably good for america. other countries, you'll see them on tv. they're always advertising about come visit australia, come visit the bahamas, come visit england, come visit every place. now we've got advertising around the world, come visit america. now everyone knows that las vegas gets its, more than its share probably of visitors, but it was good for nevada but it was also good for the country. nevada test site workers. we were the cold war veterans in nevada. it was a big project. we had 11,000, 12,000 workers there at one time. an above-ground test, i could remember seeing them. we were a long ways away in searchlight, but you would see that flash. you wouldn't always feel it. sometimes it would bounce over searchlight. but it was really a big deal. we

and senator amy klobuchar from minnesota. she actually just was named billed,r the most sponsored or cosponsors by a center. in a town where gridlock prevails most of the time, she has had a lot of success. let's jump right into the conversation. i want to talk to you congresswoman about the trump transition. we are focused on all the minutia that is happening. clinton pledged to have at least half of the cabinet the women. so far donald trump has had three. as u.s. ambassador -- how important is it that you think women is -- are part of his cabinet? marsha: it is important but the most important thing we want to focus on 70 most well-qualified person for the job and making certain that those of us working on the transition are pushing forward qualified women to fill the roles. when you talk about breaking a glass ceiling you always have to talk about breaking the glass ceiling the right way so that it stays broken and clears the path for other women to come along behind you. that is a part of our focus. also, these are such

klobuchar: and you have extended that kindness to so many since then. vice president mondale, another minnesotan has great affection and love if you and i'll report back to him tonight that i was here with you today. and when i first got elected to the senate and made one of my first speeches about police funding to a completely empty chamber and i thought even my mom wasn't watching on c-span, i walked out of this place and i got a phone call on my cell phone and it was joe biden, then a senator saying, that was a really great speech. and when you came to my state and one of my best friends suddenly lost her husband and you heard about it, you did not know who she was. you just heard the story and two weeks on her first day back at work, she was driving home and she got a call from you. and you talked to her for 20 minutes. and when you were done and had given her all this wonderful advice, you said, we're not done. i want you to write down my phone number. and she said, i'm driving, mr. vice president. i can't do that. and you said, pull over. and she

president, in addition to research funding, this bill includes a provision i authored along with senator klobuchar to improve and increase transparency in the review and approval of processes for medical devices. specifically, the bill does this. it encourages the f.d.a., the food and drug administration, to accept international consensus standards to provide more predictability for innovators. second, it makes improvements to the advisory committee's selection process in an effort to provide more transparency. and it provides a technical correction to establish a process by which the food and drug administration may remove certain products from the class one device reserve list if they think premarket review is no longer necessary to prove reasonable assurances of safety and effectiveness. as senators isakson, casey and roberts priority seeks to provide more seeks for f.d.a. review of combination products, therapies that do not fit neatly into simply a drug or device. the legislation also includes important reforms to our mental health system based largely on a bill the help committee passed earl

after i and senators klobuchar, grassley and leahy give their remarks about this hearing, we'll hear from our panel of witnesses, and i will introduce those witnesses shortly and then we will have seven-minute question rounds from members of the subcommittee. we're living in what some might describe as sort of a golden age of television. one tv writer recently commented that for the first time i have

i was joined in this effort by senators stabenow, merkley, wyden, klobuchar, heinrich and schatz, and i want to thank senator mcconnell for following through on this request and bringing this bill to the floor for a vote today. this important bipartisan bill has already been approved by the house. in fact, overwhelmingly passed in november, and now the senate must do the same. and it must leave no question or doubt that we have the resolve and commitment to continue bipartisan support for efforts to block a nuclear-armed iran. the i.s.a. is essential to ensuring that the joint comprehensive plan of action continues to prevent iran from realizing its nuclear ambition, and for the united states to maintain its unambiguous ability to immediately snap back sanctions in coming years, the i.s.a. must be renewed, and i hope it will be by a strong and overwhelming bipartisan majority, or we will surrender this critical capability. reauthorization is a significant step, and it will send a strong signal to iran that our nation is fully and irrevokably committed to vigorously enforcing the nucle