madam speaker, dr. maya angelou held a distinguished career that earned her over 80 honorary degrees. she was an american author, poet , and civil rights activist. dr. angelou was born on april 4, 1928, in st. louis, missouri. in 1981 she moved to winston-salem, north carolina, where she accepted the lifetime william neal reynolds professor shape of american studies at wake forest university. for over 30 years she served as a professor at wake forest university and became a community leader. dr. angelou made literary history with her 1969 acclaimed memoir, "i know why caged birds quing sink." when she became the first african-american woman to make the nonfiction best sellarlies. she served on two presidential committees, the american revolution bicentennial council under president ford, and the national commission and observance of international women's year under president carter. in 1993, upon the request of president clinton, dr. angelou composed a poem to read at his inauguration. that poem, entitl

udall: thank you, madam president. madam president, i would ask to speak in morning business for as much time as i may consume. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: thank you, madam president. madam president, i rise today to remember a great new mexican, a great american, dr. miguel encinas who passed away on saturday, february 20, at the age of 92. new mexico has a long and proud tradition of military service. dr. encinas is often called new mexico's most decorated veteran. he fought in three wars, was the recipient of three distinguished flying crosses, 14 air medals and two purple hearts. his military career is one of courage and sacrifice, and he later played an important role in the creation of the world war ii memorial here in washington, d.c. if the measure of a life is living the utmost to one's talents and living up to one's talents and giving the utmost of oneself, miguel encinas is an inspiration to all of us, and that's why i think he will long be remembered with such admiration and gratitu

madam sex scandal. he's longed campaigned for legislation as part of his platform of strict family values, defense of marriage. last week he admitted in a statement he made some serious mistakes. tonight the senator and his wife spoke for the first time since. the story from nbc chip reed. >> republican senator made his first public appearance today since admitting one week ago he had been linked to an alleged prostitution ring. >> i want to offer my deep, sincere apologies to all those i have let down and disappointed with these actions from my past. i am completely responsible, and i'm so very, very sorry. >> the phone number was found in the records of the d.c. madam who operated an escort service that she says was legitimate . >> this was an unusual defense in this criminal case. it was not just unusual as a strategy. it was also unusual in terms of its logistics. what happened at the time is the head of this escort agency and her lawyer, they gave a list of phone numbers of the escort agency's clie

thank you, madam chairman -- madam president. i yield the floor, and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. portman: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. portman: madam president, i ask unanimous consent to dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. portman: madam president, i'm pleased to see that on the floor today we continue to make progress on the comprehensive addiction and recovery act, the legislation before us today and yesterday and this week has been about how to deal with this growing problem we have around the kurntion and i country, andt epidemic levels, of heroin and opioid addiction. we expect over 100 americans will die today, die from overdoses of addiction, overdoses of heroin or prescription drugs. this is a problem that doesn't just affect my state of ohio, although we're one of those states that most severely impacts; it represents every single state represents by -- it affects every

madam clerk, with that do we have any announcements? >> yes, sir, please silence all cellphones and electronic devices. as part of the files to be submitted to the clerk. thank you. >> thank you madam clerk. welcome to our first budget meeting for 2016. i thought with this one, for our first meeting, we would get a quick update report from the controller's office on our six month budget. so with that, if you would call item number one. >> item number one, hearing on the six month budget report and request of the controller's office. >> we have michelle from our controller's office to speak. >> hi, yes, good afternoon. michelle from the controller's office and also, there's a presentation if you want to put it up. our six month budget status report was issued in early february and as sort of the bottom line numbers that we're projecting an improvement in the current year's ending balance of about 59 million dollars compared to our last projection which was issued at the beginning of december. so what that does is bring the combined short

madam clerk, please call the roll. >> thank you, madam president. supervisor avalos. >> supervisor avalos? avalos present. president breed? >> here. >> breed present. >> campos present. supervisor cohen. >> present. >> cohen present. >> supervisor farrell not present. supervisor kim? kim present. supervisor mar. >> here. >> mar present, supervisor peskin present. >> tang present. supervisor wiener? wiener present. supervisor yee? yee present, madam president you have a quorum. >> thank you, ladies and gentlemen, please join us for the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> thank you. madam clerk, are there any communications? >> yes, madam president. from supervisor farrell, dated march 8th, requesting that he be excused from today's meet colleagues, is there a motion to excuse supervisor faler? motion by supervisor avalos, seconded by supervisor cohen, colleagues can we take this without ob

thank you, madam president. i yield back. ms. stabenow: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: thank you, madam president. first i want to thank my partner and colleague, senator peters, for his wonderful friendship and commitment to the people of flint. we both share this. this has really become a second full-time job for us given what has happened in flint and reaching out on behalf of the 9,000 children who are under the age of 6 who have been exposed. some homes have exposure of lead that's higher than a toxic waste dump. as a mom and now as a grandmother, i can't imagine what that must feel like for the moms and dads and the grandpas and grandmas and the fear and the horror that they feel as well as for the adults and the seniors who are exposed. and everyone who is paying a price, certainly the business community right now who are concerned about people coming and doing business and going to restaurants in the city of flint, despite the fact that there is wonderful work downtown rebuilding a community, rebuil

madam clerk, please call the roll. >> thank you, madam president. supervisor avalos. >> supervisor avalos? avalos present. president breed? >> here. >> breed present. >> campos present. supervisor cohen. >> present. >> cohen present. >> supervisor farrell not present. supervisor kim? kim present. supervisor mar. >> here. >> mar present, supervisor peskin present. >> tang present. supervisor wiener? wiener present. supervisor yee? yee present, madam president you have a quorum. >> thank you, ladies and gentlemen, please join us for the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> thank you. madam clerk, are there any communications? >> yes, madam president. from supervisor farrell, dated march 8th, requesting that he be excused from today's meet colleagues, is there a motion to excuse supervisor faler? motion by supervisor avalos, seconded by supervisor cohen, colleagues can we take this without ob

thank you, madam secretary. i spent two hours in the dental chair before i came here and i think i had a better two hours than you're having. last week, and i thank mr. duncan for the tone of his questions, because i do think that the secretary's really doing a good job and the interior department is important to protect our natural resources in our country. last week, the leaders were in talking to us from the great lakes basin region and as you know, and the number one region that's on everyone's minds is the asian carp. we have 20% of the world's fresh water. as you know, thousands of jobs are tied to it. $16 billion recreation industry. so protecting the delicate eco-system that provides drinking water, and lord knows drinking water is on everybody's minds throughout the country. and as it stands, more than 3,500 species of plants and animals. the presence of a single carp in the lakes could disrupt the entire eco-system and cause significant damage. and your budget request was a very modest increase of 669,

and, madam president, with that, i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i call up the toomey amendment number 3367. the presiding officer: without objection, the pending amendment is set aside. the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from iowa, mr. grassley, for mr. toomey, proposes an amendment numbered 3367 -- mr. grassley: i ask unanimous consent the reading of the amendment be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: i yield the floor. mr. wyden: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: madam president, i call up amendment number 3395. the presiding officer: without objection, the pending amendment is set aside. the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from oregon, mr. wyden, proposes an amendment numbered 3395 to amendment numbered 3378. at the appropriate place, insert the following. mr. wyden: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: i ask unanimous consent that the reading of th

. >> thank you, madam president. i want to also join the chorous saying what a pleasure it has been to work with you. i think sometimes much to the chagrin of my staff, we have done a lot of prevailing wage legislation, even though it's incredibly important legislation, it's unbelievable hard and complicated and you are always on the verge of jurisdictional dispute between unions it's just really hard pieces of legislation to navigate, even if they seem simple i going in. you have helped to make it a lot easier. we have always been able to rely on to you give us information and guidance and the history to make sure that we have that context. this legislative work around prevailing wage is so incredibly important to support our middle-class and that people have living wage jobs and are able to succeed. so i just want to thank you for helping us and our office through difficult pieces of legislation, but also for your support for working people and we're going to miss you. >> thank you. with that, donna, you have the m

madam chair yellen: i feel a great deal has been done. we've been working at this for a number of years. i believe we have made very substantial progress. we have much more capital, higher-quality capital, more liquidity in the banking system. we've made very meaningful forges in our supervision, example, distress tests, distressed test methodology that we use routinely to evaluate the robustness of the capital positions and plans of the largest institutions constitutes a quantum leap in terms of the quality of the supervision who we are providing, especially of the largest firms. so we have finished writing most of the dodd-frank rules. on twoworking very hard big to fail, which is of great concern to the american people. in addition to having a financial system that is more robust and less likely to experience a failure. worked very hard, continue to work on making sure we have the ability to resolve a firm if it were to fail in spite of having mark capital and liquidity. and there, too, we have made substantial progress. a month or so

thank you, madam president. mr. leahy: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: madam president, i thank the distinguished senior senator from connecticut, especially as he brings a wealth of knowledge here. he was one of the most noted attorneys general of his state but also he has that very unique knowledge as a clerk, one of the most highly sought positions, a clerk to a member of the u.s. supreme court. in many ways, these are the people who have the closer view. and so senator blumenthal's experience as a clerk on the supreme court is something none of us should ignore. and, madam president, i'd ask that i be able to yield to the distinguished senior senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: madam president, i want to thank the senior senator from vermont for the opportunity to speak. i'd ask consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: is there objection? so ordered. mr. casey: thank you, madam presi

thank you, madam chair. >> thank you, madam chair. in recent years the forest service budget has been dominated by one thing, the cost of fighting wildfires. two decades ago the forest service spent about 17% of its budget on fighting fires. this year firefighting will eat up nearly half of the agency's budget, plus an additional $800 million has been separately proposed for disaster funding. in large part the cost has increased because of the number and intensity of fires has increased. fire season that lasts about two and half months longer than it did in 1970. last year was one of the worst in decades with more than 10 million acres burning across this country. the conditions that produce more wildfires are well known. chief tidwell, human activities have been driving dramatic changes in our climate. can you describe the impact that climate change has had on major wildfires? >> center, the first what is the length of the fire season. it's not just because of the fire season is longer. it's another to a half months longer, it first

madam president, i yield back the balance of my time. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. sessions: madam president, i would like to talk for a few minutes about the crime problem we're having in america today, the dramatically increasing problem of heroin abuse. and over the last week we've had a lot of discussion about this crisis, which i'm afraid we're just on the cusp of. i think it's going to get worse based on my experience and my best judgment, but the effort to understand and address it has been going on for a while. in january we had a good hearing on this issue in the senate judiciary committee. and i want to mention a few things i think we ought to keep in mind as we address this very important problem. just as a background, i served 15 years as a prosecutor, 12 as a united states attorney federal prosecutor and two and a half as an assistant u.s. attorney. so that's really my background when i came here. i was very active and studied the drug and crime problem in america, and i learned some things. and there

. >> thank you, madam secretary anyone for public comment please step forward. >> good morning. >> good morning, madam chair and members of the commission i'm mike the president of the san francisco ems officers association we're commonly known as the rc-4s or rescue captains i want to state over the last month we've come to you with concerns about the rank i'd like to apologizes that we had to do that in a public forum but we feel there is no real movement or willinglyness on the part of administration to correct the problems visual as well staff positioned appropriating i will say we have been told since moped that we are currently offered positions to the personnel that were open hopefully this mandate issue that is high when abate you are c four was fund and promised to cover the southern part of the city is held hostage at station 49 it is being held hostage in a movement to get us to agree to go to 12 hour shifts with the paramedic captains wench recently been offered that should the ems officers association agree to 12 hour shifted noun of the none of the ems officers will have t

that madam clerk, any other business before this committee? >> throw the baby out with the bath water thank you leakage this meeting is adjourned clapping welcome to the epic c did you know that many buildings in san francisco are not bolted to the foundation on today's episode we'll learn how the option to bolt our foundation in an earthquake. >> hi, everybody welcome to another episode of stay safe i'm the director of earthquake safety in the city and county of san francisco i'm joined by a friend matt. >> thank you thanks for being with us we're in a garage but at the el cap center south of market in san francisco what we've done a simulated the garage to show you what it is like to make the improvements and reduce the reflexes of earthquake we're looking at foundation bolts what do they do. >> the foundation bolts are one of the strengthening system they hold the lowest piece of wood onto the foundation that prevents the allows from sliding during an earthquake that is a bolt over the original construction and these are typically put in al

madam clerk, with that do we have any announcements? >> yes, sir, please silence all cellphones and electronic devices. as part of the files to be submitted to the clerk. thank you. >> thank you madam clerk. welcome to our first budget meeting for 2016. i thought with this one, for our first meeting, we would get a quick update report from the controller's office on our six month budget. so with that, if you would call item number one. >> item number one, hearing on the six month budget report and request of the controller's office. >> we have michelle from our controller's office to speak. >> hi, yes, good afternoon. michelle from the controller's office and also, there's a presentation if you want to put it up. our six month budget status report was issued in early february and as sort of the bottom line numbers that we're projecting an improvement in the current year's ending balance of about 59 million dollars compared to our last projection which was issued at the beginning of december. so what that does is bring the combined short

madam clerk, do we have any other

cornyn: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. cornyn: madam president, i'd ask consent that the quorum call be rescinded. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: madam president, i have eight unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have been approved by both the majority and minority leaders. and i'd ask consent that they be agreed to and printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: madam president, this afternoon the senate will proceed to a vote on senate resolution 377, a resolution that would hold backpage.com in contempt of congress for not complying with an investigation being conducted by the permanent subcommittee on investigations. unfortunately, concerns have been raised that the web site has connections to sex trafficking. backpage refused to comply with the subpoena request from the subcommittee. we all know that sex trafficking is a heinous, evil practice, and we should not and we will not tolerate it. the 2012, in 2012

madam clerk, please call the roll. >> thank you, madam president.upervisor avalos. >> supervisor avalos? avalos present. president breed? >> here. >> breed present. >> campos present. supervisor cohen. >> present. >> cohen present. >> supervisor farrell not present. supervisor kim? kim present. supervisor mar. >> here. >> mar present, supervisor peskin present. >> tang present. supervisor wiener? wiener present. supervisor yee? yee present, madam president you have a quorum. >> thank you, ladies and gentlemen, please join us for the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> thank you. madam clerk, are there any communications? >> yes, madam president. from supervisor farrell, dated march 8th, requesting that he be excused from today's meet colleagues, is there a motion to excuse supervisor faler? motion by supervisor avalos, seconded by supervisor cohen, colleagues can we take this without obje

madam clerk, what was the second? >> the second motion made by supervisor wiener, seconded by supervisor cohen on page 3 line 3. i believe supervisor wiener after property statewide -- except for parks and open space. >> except for parks and -- yes. >> okay. >> okay, i'm sorry, i need to pull up the resolution to understand that specifically. >> okay. >> madam president, i think we can take that without objection. >> okay. colleagues can we take that amendment without objection, without objection the amendment passes. [ gavel ] >> and on item 25 as amended, madam clerk, please call the roll. >> madam president. >> supervisor wiener. >> just a question to the city attorney. as i indicated before, i support all of this resolution, except for that one whereas clause that was not amended per my motion. and so to the city attorney, is it possible to divide the question so that we vote separately on that one whereas clause on page -- starting on page 1, line 22? >> deputy city attorney jon givner, you can divide if they sta

thank you, madam chair. >> thank you, madam chair, and thank you, chief tidwell, for being here today. about a year ago when we were having our budgetary last you for the appropriations cycle we had a conversation about the forest service's work around water policies and a ski area water will. i understand late 2015 that the service arrived at a ski area water closet that address the concerns of the ski industry, partners of the forest and i just want to thank you for your work on that. i would like to briefly touch on the importance of a healthy forest management practices. coloradans were living around oliver springs or close watching and incidents, a species come infestation of the douglas fir us at mall. i do for mystical to to me with a forest service on friday in the air of colorado springs the service as elegant as possible utilizing a categorical exclusion provision with the fargo to treat the affected areas. the douglas fir tree are incredibly beautiful and certainly a local economic driver and his was hoping to get your commitment to commute to work with the office of local

. >> well, madam president, it is another day and another tantrum from them in order leader. but it does not matter how much the minority leader jumps up and down, how much the majority leader stomps his feet, we are not going to let liberals get away with denying the american people an opportunity to be heard. letting the american people decide this question is a reasonable approach, a fair approach it is the approach the other side advocated in the shoes on the other foot and is with the american people deserve. they deserve the right to be heard, the american people want our reasonable justice, a persona person that will make the right decisions. madam president, as the american people continue voting during the presidential election they face a choice, do they want just another justice who will look to her heart and apply her own ethics and perspectives when deciding important constitutional questions that impact every american, or do they want a justice who, like justice scalia, adheres to the constitution and the rule law and decides cases based decide cases based on wh

those rules require three things, madam chair.hey require you to notify the ranking member in advance. they require you to consult with the ranking member. and to do so 72 hours before issuing a subpoena. and they require you to report within a week to the committee. on friday, february 12th, you told ranking member during votes on house floor that you would be issuing subpoenas the next week. we immediately asked for a meeting to discuss this and for a copy of the subpoena to see what you were requesting. those requests were refused. you then issued subpoenas on the 16th of february, four days after that conversation, and have yet to report on their issuance. madam chair, can you explain what constitutes consultation and reporting within the meaning of energy and commerce rule 16? >> energy and commerce committee requires a conversation on the committee's plans, which i did. and i will remind the gentleman the resolution establishing this panel, house resolution 461, stated that rule 11 of the house of representatives and the rul

>> on saturday at our 30th madam c.j.r luncheon, we'll be blessed by the direct genetic legacy of miss madam c.j. walker. her great granddaughter will be there to receive an award. also the legacy of giving scholarships to three african-american women. and there are some other things that will occur. so i hope people -- i'm excited for people that were able to get tickets. and if you weren't, it's a sold out event and we hope more people will participate again next year. >> and we like when things are sold out like that. the madam c.j. walker awards luncheon happening this saturday at the loews philadelphia hotel. the luncheon is at noon. go to nbcnews.com or check out the app. don't worry about getting tickets this year, but they will be around next year. thank you for coming in. wish you well. >> thank you. >>> well, we are still seeing the clouds around from this morning's fog. so the fog has lifted but now it's creating this layer of stratus clouds, a little tricky to clear up. but we'll see breaks of sunshine and we

. >> thank you very much, madam chair. and i want to thank all the members of the panel for coming and presenting your different perspectives, because i think talking about ethics in these situations is important. dr. donovan, i believe you testified and i only have five minutes, so yes or no will suffice, most of the time. i believe you testified that you're not a research scientist. is that correct? >> although i have been -- >> yes, or no will work. you're not a research scientist? >> yes. >> thank you. >> and ms. cunningham, you're an ethicist, is that correct? >> yes. >> now dr. donovan, i believe that you are philosophically opposed to abortion, is that correct? >> yes. >> and ms. cunningham, you are also philosophically opposed to abortion, right? >> yes. >> now dr. donovan, do you believe that fetal tissue research should be banned in this country? yes or no? >> it depends on where you get the tissue. no. >> so you don't believe it should be banned. okay. what about you, ms. cunningham? >> i can't give a yes or no

madam president? the presiding officer: the sphror mississippi. mr. wicker: madam president, i believe we're in a quorum call -- we're not. okay. i'd like to speak for some five to ten minutes about an important matter. and so i appreciate being recognized. what is the pending business? madam president? the presiding officer: the senate is postcloture on the substitute amendment to the cara bill. mr. wicker: all right. we'll -- we will let the time run on that issue, and at this point i'd like to talk about alzheimer's. and an opportunity that we have to cure this most serious disease. we can find a cure for alzheimer's. we can do it through american ingenuity. no obstacle has never been too tbrait for american ingenuity -- too great for american ingenuity. we have defied seemingly impossible odds in the past . we've eradicated polio from the entire north american continent and for most of the globe. we have mapped the human genome. we've been to the moon. we're going to to send somebody to mars. we c

>> thank you, madam chair. and, mr. secretary, thank you, again, for working so diligently on this budget proposal. as you can imagine -- well, i have many questions. but i have four specific -- i have four questions and they're all related to hanford as you can imagine. greatly important subject for our entire nation, but particularly important in the state of washington as we are integrally involved in making sure that the tri-party agreement and other things are lived up to. so, i have a question about the buildings i mentioned the 3 24 and the 61810 and the fact that the budget decrease -- i think i said practically to every energy secretary that i have had the opportunity of working with since i've been in the senate, i firmly believe the energy secretary should be for life or until hanford is cleaned up. because as i mentioned -- >> that would extend beyond life. >> i hope not. i think the issue is, is that, you know, with such a large budget need, i think from time to time people come in with think cut corners, s

madam president, i yield back. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran: madam president, i wish to address the senate as to a terrible tragedy that has occurred in our state. i start with the premise that our immigration system is terribly, terribly broken, and the consequences of flawed immigration policies exhibit themselves across our society. it's hard to understand why nothing has been done to address certain obviously dangerous vulnerabilities, specific problems that have put american lives at risk. sanctuary city policies and indifference about the prosecution of illegal immigrants arrested for dangerous crimes and the tolerance of bureaucratic red tape by administration all contribute to a dangerous degrading of the criminal justice system. the failure to address illegal immigration at all levels of government has been accounted for in lost lives. sometimes a government failure is just annoying. sometimes it's deadly. decades of broken immigration policy contributed to the situation that l

madam clerk, what was the second? >> the second motion made by supervisor wiener, seconded by supervisor cohen on page 3 line 3. i believe supervisor wiener after property statewide -- except for parks and open space. >> except for parks and -- yes. >> okay. >> okay, i'm sorry, i need to pull up the resolution to understand that specifically. >> okay. >> madam president, i think we can take that without objection. >> okay. colleagues can we take that amendment without objection, without objection the amendment passes. [ gavel ] >> and on item 25 as amended, madam clerk, please call the roll. >> madam president. >> supervisor wiener. >> just a question to the city attorney. as i indicated before, i support all of this resolution, except for that one whereas clause that was not amended per my motion. and so to the city attorney, is it possible to divide the question so that we vote separately on that one whereas clause on page -- starting on page 1, line 22? >> deputy city attorney jon givner, you can divide if they sta

thank you, madam chair. >> thank you, madam chair. in recent years the forest service budget has been dominated by one thing, the cost of fighting wildfires. two decades ago, the forest service spent about 17% of its budget on fighting fires. this year, firefighting will eat up nearly half of the agency's budget plus an additional $800 million that's been separately proposed for disaster funding. in large part the costs have increased because the number and intensity of fires has increased. fire season now lasts about two and a half months longer than it did in 1970. last year was one of the worst in decades with more than ten million acres burning across this country. the conditions that produce more wildfires are well known. chief tidwell, human activities have been driving dramatic changes in our climate. can you describe the impact that climate change has had on major wildfires? >> senator, the first one is the length of the fire season. it's not just because the fire season's longer. when you have a fire season that's another two

. >> madam chair excuse me. one second we have some live inform happening at the moment this item is largely an informational item in its information go through it quickly one aspect that is an action item i recommend you that take right now as we speak that the board of supervisors is delaying consideration of the towing contract you approved. >> few months ago pending this board considerations and approval of the changes to the transportation code to adjust towing and storage the admin and storage fees for people that get their cars toad two year the first time and the low income program i have a whole budget presentation i'll hit the highlights and maybe x punishing got to that one item to vote on and take the rest of the - if sfgov can go to the presentation quickly through with your framed by the distribution and you've established those the calendars is the same this is the last time before you as a informational item and meantime we'll be reaching to the public we're driven by our goals to make the plans

thank you, madam chair. >> senator daines. >> thank you, madam chair. good to see you again here today. thank you for your testimony. i share your commitment as well as i know many members in this committee to solving the wildfire funding challenge and increasing active management of our national forests. i know across many of our national forests, certainly in my home state of montana habitual litigation from fringe groups who do not represent the majority of people of montana have been one of the key barriers to moving forward with active management of our forests. i recently received updated information from your region one staff concerning litigation in montana. i was told there are 21 active timber lawsuits going on in my state. that to me is astonishing. it is unacceptable. i had some students from libby, montana, in my office recently. they're called the libby loggers. this is vibrant timber industry up in northwest montana. the only folks winning today are the lawyers and i said perhaps they need to change the mask from the libly loggers, to lib

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

madam chair? i'm trying to follow protocol, madam chair, can we open it up for fub lick comment. okay, it will be two minutes, there will be a soft bell when you have 30 seconds left and a louder ball when the two minutes are up. i'll call a few names. ( calling speaker names ). >> good afternoon, supervisor, my name is vince core nay with the laborers union, we represent many men and women in the city, we usually advocate for a project, whether it be a housing project, a development project because we represent construction workers, what a lot of people don't know is we represent a lot of very, very low wage workers, most recently, we took on a unit of public employee unit that roughly makes $15 an hour, they're mostly community folks coming from the southeast sectors, most unions would not want to take that on but we have done it time and time again, we're proud of supervisor wiener and the rest of you for considering this, but we believe in the greatest economic expansion of our lifetime, now is the time to make these things happen, now it's time to pass the labor laws, whethe

>> i do like "madam secretary." >> stephen: oh, you do? >> i do. >> stephen: don't just say that because it's a cbs show. >> no, because i watch "madam secretary" and i watch "good wife." >> stephen: all right? >> wow. now that's good. >> stephen: there you have it, there you have it, okay? >> now, i would be lying if i said i didn't play that clip over and over again. ( laughter ) >> stephen: have you learned anything about the state department, playing this role? do you think, because-- >> oh, yes. >> stephen: because people don't think about the state department a lot. they think, it's sort of like the part of the government we forget about. >> i think that's true, i do think that's true, and actually i think maybe the greatest compliment that i got was from madeleine albright, former secretary of state, who said, "thank you for making foreign policy less foreign." >> stephen: wow. >> that was-- i took it. ( cheers and applause ) and i think that's somewhat true. >> stephen: she consults on the show, right? >> well, she was on the show,

what can we do to speed things up, madame secretary? >> we will follow up with the park service directly. i wasn't aware of that until you've just brought it up. >> thank you. and again, finally, i guess well, not finally, the agency for affairs which the culture made last week i wasn't able to attend, i think the concept of the response to these areas is great. i really do. but i am concerned about results. i've never seen the report on what the outcome of these meetings have been. are the problems being addressed, are the governors satisfied, is the process working? i don't know. i would like to ask if the office can provide me with a report over the last seven years and what the outcomes have been and have we got we gotten the results and would that be possible? >> i would be happy to ask. i wasn't at the last meeting and we are making progress on a number of areas raised. >> thank you. >> thank you. madame secretary, in the executive order 13132, no agency shall promulgate any regulation of federalism implications that it imposes a

madam chair, may i have 30 seconds? thank you very much. because i simply wanted to say, madam chair, that we believe your efforts to compile this database of names is very dangerous. we believe that linking people to this investigation is very dangerous. and we think that characterization of unlawful sale of baby body parts is very dangerous and we're disappointed that republicans tabled our motion and that you would not answer mr. nadler's question when he asked you why you thought the -- >> the gentle lady's time has expired. at this point i recognize ms. heartsler for five minutes. >> thank you, madam chairman. i would say just based on the comments that were just made, just a reminder, that babies who are aborted are normally buried or cremated. it is not discarded. and so to follow this premise, you would be saying that to bury a loved one rather than donating to science is immoral, and i clearly, clearly reject that. we have to treat these babies with the dignity that they deserve, and i think the logic is flawed to say just because

madame president you have a quorum >> thank you. ladies and gentlemen please join us in the pledge of allegiance. >>[pleage of allegiance] >> thank you. mdm. clerk any communications? >> yes that were in receipt of the communication by mayor ed wu lee march 11 26 in communicating his beat out of file number 15 1257 the transportation sustainability fee for nonresidential projects. supervisor john avalos has requested the scheduling of the veto override at the next possible date so supervisor avalos they'll be on march 22 agenda. peter thank you. colleagues, either any changes to the feathery 9th 2016 regular board meeting minutes? seeing none,, is their motion to approve those minutes? moved and seconded. collies can we take those meeting minutes without objection? without objection those minutes will pass after public comments. >>[gavel] >> madam clerk, please read the consent agenda >> items one through 7 are on consent is considered routine. whenever

. >> thank you, madam secretary i just want everybody to know there may be a change of venue for that meeting but we are little more than a month out a so everybody will receive amble no so thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> and item 4 approval of the minutes minutes from the regular meeting on february 24, 2016. >> any public comment on the minutes? okay public comment is closed. i just want my fellow commissioners to know i did make some minor changes noting the substance to the minutes if i can entertain a motion at this time so moved >> thank you commissioner hardeman seconded >> all in favor, say i. >> i. >> item 5 chief of departments report report from the department within the departments since the fir commission including fiscal year 2015-2016 straufk planning one and 50 anniversary communication you guess and outreach to the agency and report if the administration report other than is administrative position fleet and facility finance and training within the department report on overall field operations including to greater alarm fires workshop update on station 4 and in

because we have got a really great show for you tonight.e ) first, i'll be talking to the star of "madam secretary," te a ) yeah. then i'll sit down with the lovely amanda peet, ladies and gentlemen. ( cheers and applause )king to my old friend, triumph the insult comic dog. ( cheers and applause ) ( band playing ) oh! over there is jon batiste and the stay human experience. they are about to kick this off, but before they do, one more thing: a new study found thatty friends will make you appear less racist. i don't know if that's true, but that is what my buddy jose said. ( laughter ) and applause ) >> announcer: tonight... stephen welcomes te a leoni!therness," triumph the insult comic dog!jon batiste and "stay human!" and now it's time for "the late show" with stephen colbert! e ) >> stephen: hey! thanks, everybody!e ) thank you so much! well, i'm so glad you guys are here.important to me-- and i mean this, there is nothing more important to me than being honest with my audience. and i learned my lesson, the night i tried to pass off a mopnardo dicaprio. ( laughter ) though it worked

. >> thank you, madam secretary i just want everybody to know there may be a change of venue for that meeting but we are little more than a month out a so everybody will receive amble no so thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> and item 4 approval of the minutes minutes from the regular meeting on february 24, 2016. >> any public comment on the minutes? okay public comment is closed. i just want my fellow commissioners to know i did make some minor changes noting the substance to the minutes if i can entertain a motion at this time so moved >> thank you commissioner hardeman seconded >> all in favor, say i. >> i. >> item 5 chief of departments report report from the department within the departments since the fir commission including fiscal year 2015-2016 straufk planning one and 50 anniversary communication you guess and outreach to the agency and report if the administration report other than is administrative position fleet and facility finance and training within the department report on overall field operations including to greater alarm fires workshop update on station 4 and in