markey: thank you, mr. president. today congress stands ready to reform the last of the core four environmental stat yachts. -- statutes and may do so with a stronger bipartisan vote than any other major environmental statute in recent american history. for a generation, the american people have been guinea pigs in a terrible chemical experiment. told that all the advances in our chemistry labs would make us healthier, happier and safer, american families have had to suffer with decades of a law that did nothing to ensure that that was true. and that is because when the industry successfully overturned the e.p.a.'s proposed ban on asbestos, it also rendered the toxic substance control act all but unusable. children shouldn't be unwitting scientific subjects. today we have a chance to protect them by reforming this failed law. as ranking democrat on the senate subcommittee of injures cix -- of jurisdiction, i one of a handful of members who participated in an informal conference with the house. and i have with senators

senator markey: do they agree falluja was a mistake? 24 hours after the offensive move into the city, it iraqop to bottom voices in from the grand ayatollah to madonna also water condemned those reports of abuse. the government did, the minister of defense announced it to members of the army who were in that abuse and they have to remain vigilant. when you get a lot of young people on the streets with guns and a situation like this, it's almost impossible to mitigate the risk of anything happening. senator markey: how many people have then punished for what happened in falluja? i think 45 members of the iraqi army have been retained. senator markey: what is their punishment so far? mr. mcgurk: i don't think the investigation has been concluded. markey: what is the answer to why are the shia allowed to be put in those positions where they can commit those kinds of atrocities? there is one unit of the mobilization forces on the shia side operating totally outside the law in some of the suburbs of falluja. i can't say specifically why the

and i'm about finished year, senator markey speak at a just want to reinforce what you just said.on the house side, fred upton, frank pallone, nancy pelosi, and steny hoyer an incredible staff mary frances over there, justibi indispensable. that's why cabinet with with bipartisan backing them up to thank gentleman for yielding. >> thank you, senator markey. i do know because you've serve so many years how important it is to have good step and i wanted to just make sure that we give them all thanked here. i think agreement and appreciate that. implementation of this law isxty going to be extremely important that as the ranking of on the appropriations committee with jurisdiction over the p.a., iil will remain very involved and ensuring that this law gets implemented well. and finally i also want to recognize all the great advocates for reform who pushed congress to act and kept pushing into we get act. of course i need to start byd, thanking environmental defense fund come in particular fred and his staff, richard, joanna, jack pratt.o but they also think dr. linda goldman, the dea

so i thank senator markey for being so persistent on this question of research dollars. there's so many different angles of this problem. there's so many different ways to attack it. this is another example of a way in which we could come together. i think this is one of the ways in which democrats and republicans could come together. i yield for a question from the senator from you will i will. mr. durbin: would the senator yield for a question? mr. murphy: i would. mr. durbin: i would like to thank the senator from connecticut, senator murphy. you have been on the floor for a little over three years in the process of raising an important issue about gun violence in america. i think it's important for us from time to time to remind those who might just be joining this conversation why we're here. you are certainly a leader in this, as is senator blumenthal, senator booker, so many others, because we've each in our own ways been touched by gun violence, the terrible trag dhai occurred at sandy hook, in connecticut, the tragedies that we see every weekend, every day in th

and my colleague eddy markey mentioned donald trump. donald trump, like the republicans, he is talking the talk. but he ain't walking the walk. he is going to meet with the nra. our republican colleagues have been doing that for decades. what is he going to come out saying? the nra and i agree we should not have terrorist have guns but then do nothing about it? or fight it? use false proposals like they have done. the nra wants support of smoke screen proposals so they are not going to do anything. the american people won't stand for a group that supports the rights of suspected terrorist over the health and safety of the country. will donald trump allow that? the only way donald trump can prove me seriously wants to keep guns out of the hands of the terrorist is to convince the nra to support senator fienstein's bill and senator murphy, booker and my bill. that is it. let's stop this dance. if donald trump feels terrorist shouldn't have guns all he has to do is issue a two-sentence statement. donald trump supports the fienstein bill wh

. >> thank you senators schumer and blumen thal and murphy and feinstein booker markey and baldwin for inviting me today. i'm grateful to you and members of your delegation for taking action on this issue so that other families do not have to live with the heartbreak and anguish my family has been forced to endur. your leadership has been a source of comfort to my family andmy. my name is tina mines, my father was killed on december 2nd last year at the regional center while at the work event with the san bernardino county environmental health department when a co-worker and his wife who pledged allegiance to the terrorist group isis burst through the doors of his office spraying bullets from the semiautomatic rifles. my dad along with 13 co-workers was killed in mere seconds, my life and lives of my mother and sister were changed. our family was small but close, very close. dad was always happen to spend time with us, whether helping with our homework or teaching us how to ride our bikes and helping coach our soccer teams or going for long walks. we traveled the world today and talked

senator markey is next and your now chairman. >> thank you.our testimony is always candid and to the point. i know you are the messenger. i am concerned about the 14 months now at the end of the three years and i am not putting words in your mouth. i am very concerned about that. i wanted on the record. i am concerned about syria. it seems to me we have had witnesses giving us testimony that the best option is a coalition fighting sunni force. not an american force. not an outside force. but a sunni fighting force. in iraq we have issues with shia after it is town liberated and so forth. some of the major players have given us information that they and saudito stand up arabia has potentially 30,000 fighting troops were fighting isis in syria. that not a lack of u.s. leadership and resolve. they are waiting on the united states. can you speak about that in a little more detail? we get into syria and it is a much more confused battle space than what we see in iraq. we are seeing today and afghanistan, when the troops liberate a city and turn it

one more word, my dear colleague eddie markey mentioned donald trump.donald trump, like the republicans, he's talking he's talking the talk but he's not walking the walk. he's going to meet with the nra. our republican colleagues have been doing that for decades. what's he going to come out saying? the nra and i agree? terrorists shouldn't have guns. then they do nothing about it or fight it. they have false proposals like have done, the nra once support of smokescreens proposals so they are not going to do anything. the american people won't stand for a group that supports terrace over the health and safety of the country. will donald trump realize that. the only way donald trump can prove he seriously wants to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists is to givens the nra to support senator feinstein's bill and my bill along with senator murphy and feinstein booker. if he feels they should have guns, all they have to do is issue a two sentence statement. he needs to say he supports the bill that keeps guns out of the hands of terrorists and that he sup

to ed markey, senator from massachusetts, and he's never seen anything like it, so they have certainlyord. john: wargame it out. what is -- is this going to go on another 24 hours? luke: i don't think they expected it to get this much attention, especially on a day when donald trump is giving a speech and hillary meeting with the houston credit caucus. but members i spoke to are prepared to say -- or to stay through the night. maxine waters says hell would freeze over before they leave the floor if they don't get a vote on the gun-control amendment. i would argue that it's easier for the house gop to take these gunboats because i have the havest majority than they for years. a big deal to put this forward in an already existing bill, but seems they don't want isgive because ryan basically saying we cannot let the minority party hijacked the house floor when they are not eating their way and the hate what happens. that would set a terrible president. so it is an interesting standoff and i think democrats feel invigorated and they are going to bend at least until the early hours here unl

senator markey: accountability can be just saying don't do it again. mr. mcgurk: they have to have a process and a have to be punished when violations occur. senator murphy: i know we consider mr. mcgurk to be a global citizen, but he's a graduate of connecticut and is -- has overcome the rivalry. let me try to recover from that. thank you for being here, mr. mcgurk, and thank you for taking on what is frankly a nightmare of a job trying to manage this crisis and coalition and we are lucky to have you at the helm. in response to a question from senator corker earlier, you were talking about some of our coalition partners not being as involved as we would like, especially with the air campaign. i want to ask you a question relative to the reason members of the coalition are not participating at the level we would expect. when i was in abu dhabi at the and of last year, i went to get relief from the ministry of defense and i was there to oversee our counter isis campaign. knowing i was there to talk about the coalition fight against isil was the threat from

have a really light touch, very, very light touch in a country that, as senator gardner and senator markey mentioned, could, in fact, breed problems far greater than syria by some onlookers that are in the neighborhood. it still doesn't appear to me that we've come together around something that has a sense of urgency or seriousness to it relative to the negativity that can occur if libya fell. so i don't know if you want to respond to that or just agree with me and wish more was happening. [laughter] >> senator, we're doing the best we can. mr. chairman, i'm doing the best that i can -- >> you know this isn't directed at you in any way. >> thank you, sir. >> all right. with that, the meeting's adjourned. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] ♪ ♪ >> c-span's "washington journal," live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. and coming up saturday morning, european union ambassador to the u.s. david o'sullivan will discuss what britain's vote to leave the european union means from a diplomatic standpoint. also, timothy healey, former di

i spoke to ed markey, senator from massachusetts, who has been on capitol hill for 40 years.g like it, so they have certainly struck a chord. john: wargame it out. what do you think this is? is this going to go on another 24 hours? 36 hours? what? luke: i don't think they expected it to get this much attention, especially on a day when donald trump is giving a speech, and hillary clinton was meeting with the house. maxine waters of california will freeze over before she leaves the floor if they do not get a vote on begun control amendment. i would argue that it's easier for the house gop to take these gun votes because i have the largest majority than they have for years. it is a very conservative body. it's not a big deal to put this forward in some component in some already existing bill but , seems they don't want to give because ryan is basically saying we cannot let the minority party just hijack the house floor when are the minority. i think now they feel invigorated, and i think they will spend until the early hours here, unless ryan comes out and says, ok, we will mov

senator markey. >> thank you, mr. chairman, very much.ecretary shannon, in response to recent questions about the administration's plan to provide iran with additional relief from u.s. financial sanctions, president obama stated that existing restrictions would remain in place. he also noted iran's difficulties in doing business abroad has more to do with its own aggressive actions including ballistic missile tests than it does with u.s. financial restrictions. this morning secretary kerry reiterated that iran deserves the benefits of the agreement they struck but that if they want to capture the broader benefits of global commerce they need to change their aggressive behavior. rather than changing any current rules that restrict iran's access to the dollar-based financial system, the president suggested that the treasury department could clarify to foreign financial institutions the kind of activities that are permissible under current restrictions. what kind of changes would we have to see in iran's behavior with respect to missile deve

i spoke to ed markey, senator from massachusetts, he's never seen anything like it. cord with a lot of people around the country and within their own membership. >> what do you think this is? will this go on for another 24 hours, 36 hours, 48 hours, two hours? >> i don't think they expected it to get there much attention especially on a day when donald trump is giving that speech when hillary clinton was up here meeting with the house democratic caucus. they are prepared to stay through the night. maxine waters is saying hell will freeze over before she leaves the house floor if they don't get a vote regarding gun control amendments. it's easier for the house gop to take the gun votes because they have the largest republican majority since the 1920s than the senate gop. you already did it. it's not a big deal if ryan were to put forward this legislation in some component of an already existing bill. it seemed they don't want to give. ryan says, look, we can't let the minority party hijack the house floor. that would be setting terrible precedent. it's an interesting

senator markey. >> thank you. these new vehicles are computers on wheels. it's absolutely amazing what is happening. i just went out on to the highway across the 14th street bridge, 395, in a tesla vehicle and i looked right, i looked left and it was like look, ma, no hands. i'm driving along down the highway at 11:30 this morning in one of these demonstrations vehicles and it was absolutely amazing, very impressive and clearly we're still at the dawn of the era but the promise is there and we can see it and i'm very glad i took the demonstration this morning. back in 2013 and again last year i asked 20 auto makers what they are doing to protect our computers on wheels and what i found is that they're not doing enough. after reviewing the original responses from the auto makers i released a report and the report is entitled "tracking and hacking security and privacy gaps put american drivers at risk". here's what we learned from the study that thieves no longer need a crowbar to break into a phone. they just need an iphone. today's cars are collecting treme

. >> thank you, senators schumer, blumenthal, murphy, feinstein, booker, markey, and baldwin for inviting me here today. i'm grateful to you and members of your delegation for taking ox on this issue so that other families do not have to live with the heart break and anguish my family has been forced to endure for the rest of our lice. our leadership has been a source of comfort to my family and me. i am tina mines. my father damian mines was killed on december 2nd last year at the inland regional center while at a work event with the san bernardino county environmental health department when a co-worker and his wife who had pledged allegiance to isis burst through the doors of his office spraying bullets from their semiautomatic rifles. my dad along with 13 of his co-workers was killed. in mere seconds my life and the lives of my mother and sister were irrevocably changed. our family was small but close, very close. dad was always happy to spend time with us whether it was helping us with our homework, teaching us how to ride our bikes, helping coach our soccer teams, or later just going

have a really light touch, very, very light touch in a country that as senator gardner and senator markey mentioned could, in fact, breed problems far greater than syria by some on lookers that are in the neighborhood. it still doesn't appear to me we've come together around something that has a sense of urgency or seriousness to it relative to the negativity that can occur if libya fell. i don't know if you want to respond to that or just agree with me and wish more was happening. >> senator, we're doing the best we can. mr. chairman, i'm doing the best that i can. >> you know this isn't directed at you in any way. >> thank you, sir. >> with that the meeting is adjourned. >>> tomorrow we'll have live coverage as cia director john brennan testifies on the agency's intelligence activities and its ability to meet diverse mission requirements. our coverage of the senate intelligence committee hearing starts at 9:00 eastern. >>> after the surrender the united states faced more than a decade of challenges during reconstruction. in policies instituted at the time had a lasting impact on america

i don't know if senator markey mentioned this to you or not but a couple of months ago we had the opportunity to travel to saudi arabia and visit with deputy crown prince, the crown prince and others in the royal family as well as the foreign minister and other members of the government. one of the questions of the crown prince, i believe, the situation in libya, in syria and when it came specifically to the situation libya the question was asked how do you think it compares to syria and i believe syria will be a piece of cake compared to libya should this collapse occur. perhaps you already mentioned that and i don't want to mischaracterize the statement. could you explain how that could be the case and whether or not you agree with comments that such comments like you look at the crown prince's remarks that libya -- syria is a piece of

you can watch what happened in the senate for democrats, led by senator markey of connecticut, held theloor and did not relinquish the floor after 15-hours talking about gun control. there has been agreement to allow some votes on gun control legislation. more to come on the "washington journal." we want to begin with the stanford rape case and your thoughts on the judge's decision. the letter. your reaction of everything you have heard. jim, good morning. -- i am in the process of reading the price of silence by william cowan, i found it at a book sale a couple of years ago about the duke lacrosse case. i recommend that group. what they did to those guys was completely overblown. they try to destroy those young men's lives, which they did with a false accusation. 2 things. i have been very confused all my life about the clarence thomas trial. very confused about the strange duality. at one point, women are supposed to be equal to men. just as tough, go to combat, do anything. the other side, they pull back when they have to and say they are victims who have to be protected by the state

i want to thank senators inhofe and vitter for all their work with senators udall and markey to movethis legislation forward. its passage represents the latest example of how the senate is back to work for the american people. on another important matter, the issue before us today, there are an array of threats facing our country. as the chairman of the armed services committee recently observed, instead of one great power rival, the united states now faces a series of transregional, cross functional, multidomain and long-term strategic competitions. there are the conventional military challenges like those who have been modernizing missiles, airframes, ships and ground forces. there are the asymmetric threats like cyber warfare and espionage. there are nations like china, iran and russia which represent both conventional and asymmetric threats at the very same time. if we're going to keep americans safe, we have to prepare for all of these challenges. we have to modernize defenses, keep up technological advances and recognize threats. passing the national defense authorization act b

and i want to thank also for supporting the initiative that senators markey, durbin and i have begun to try to persuade more airlines to reduce or eliminate their fees for checking baggage which would reduce the burden on tsa and thereby, enable us to devote more resources to the work of tsa that is so vital. and i want to focus for the moment on priorities and practices. my experience is that there is all too often failure to follow the stated yorty's and practices that are articulated in the highest levels. the administration has said that it wants to deport felons, not families, but the actual enforcement record often belies that statement. all too commonly the stated priorities are inconsistent with the actual practices and enforcement of those priorities and practices all too often simply stinks. i know that's a nontraditional term, and i applied it to the area that is most familiar to me because of personal experience in our state with a violent, convicted felon who should have been deported, was convicted of attempted murder, was permitted to remain in our state by ice, and th

my colleagues, cory booker -- let's see, we had i think sheldon whitehouse, maybe jeff merkley, ed markey. they sort of stepped up and said we're interested in those three areas and we want to see further changes made in the bill. and with those changes, we added even more cosponsors and finally ended up with like 60 and said let's take that bill to the senate, report out of committee and eventually worked it through the senate. not easy but finally got it done. went to conference with the house and lo and behold we have a conference report which we passed unanimously here, last night by unanimous consent. nobody objected. consider how controversial this bill has been for years, that is amazing. at a press conference we held today with the -- the principle democrats and republicans, the senate and one of our house members came over. tom udall, senator udall said, he talked about how he felt elated to be able to pass such a contentious bill after all these years unanimously. and he likened it to standing on a mountaintop. standing on a mountaintop. he's a mountain climber. from new mexico

senator markey alluded to. but we also have to operate in the context of both sustaining our deterrent and being mindful of the capabilities of other countries. >> we are running short on time and i want to get to three representative questions from the audience. trying to sort through some of the most popular issues that have not been addressed. so i'm going to ask you these the question that i think we'll be close to the end of our time by the time you answer. sort of religious some of the question that we've already heard come you said in your remarks that president obama has reduced launched under attack contingency planning for nuclear come in our war plan. can you provide an example of how this has been done? and if you can't today, perhaps, would you say something that i think is community is, in terms of what that means come in terms of operational operations. second question in a different era to we heard earlier today in great detail from joel wit about the expanding nuclear missile threat from north

markey: i thank the gentleman. i ask the gentleman, why won't the republicans allow for a debate and a vote on whether or not individuals on a terrorist target list should be able to get a gun anywhere in america? and the answer to that question has not been forthcoming from the republican party because the n.r.a., the national rifle association, does not have a good answer to it except that they don't want any exceptions to the rule that anybody should be able to buy a gun at anytime, even if they're on a terrorist target list in the united states. and so, that's going to be our big challenge out here. what are the limits to the power of the national rifle association over the republican party? and, as a result, over the united states senate? because the american people don't think that we have to accept this epidemic of gun violence in our gun. the american people do not believe that it is preordained. they believe that it is preventable. but every week, 56 children die from gun violence. that's nearly three newt

markey want to make their at this meeting and at this meeting edit opec, he has to bridge the differencesparticularly with the iranians. >> thank you, in a fairly noisy vienna. >> we will get more data ahead of tomorrow's jobs reports, for more let's bring in a senior u.s. economist. p and initiald jobless, what are you looking for? >> analyst will be looking for the signs that steady growth in jobs continues. consumerssential for to continue growing at a steady and be fede fed -- once the consumer to support growth this year and that will allow them to continue the rate hikes at the desired pace as they mentioned. will probably see a rebound, a modest rebound because we saw a considerable decline in the previous month and the monthly volatility might suggest that we could see a modest rebound. adp isory is a guide, not a good leading indicator in what we should see any jobs report tomorrow. >> today is a prelude to tomorrow's jobs report, what do you think the fed will be looking at and what could be the sign of trouble in the economy or real continued strength in the labor market? >> th

the star ofs the broadway smash hamilton we're talking a thousand dollard a ticket on the secondary markey yes.>>es >> what is that man right theree doing? >> leaving. >> he's leaving the show. >> um-hmm.e' according to multiple reports lynn manuel miranda will leaveiv the cast after july 9th to work on other projects.ct his exit will come less thanessa month after the tony awards. awa the show has been nominat nominr record 16 i misspoke scena s wards. wards. miranda is up for three.r hree earlier this week, it was it was announced that he would is it a are in disney's reboot of maryar poppins but that's just that on production. i thought he was just going tong take some time off and have hiss understudy do his gig butig he's -- >> out of there. he created it though and i'm and sure that it will be in goodoo >> can i ask you a question. >> yes, my friend. fri >> if you were if you were w sitting on top of the world in i your chose zen field, he's on os the world broadway. b would you go while you're hot?eh >> it would be -- yes.ye >> would you say stay. s >> this is something he createdh

positions of its own board members, with senators boxer, sanders, brown, merkley, blumenthal and markey, we release add report on our findings. not one -- not one of the 108 chamber board members we contacted would endorse the u.s. chamber's lobbying on climate change -- not one. our investigation found roughly half of the companies represented on the chamber's board actually have strong pro-climate action positions, which contrast sharply with the chamber's lobbying activities. we also found the chamber's decision making about these policies to be awfully murky. the chamber describes its board as its -- quote -- "principal governing and policy-making body" but not one chamber board member asserted that they were fully aware of and able to provide their input and views to the chamber regarding its actions on climate. there was no sign of a board vote or any formal input. one company indicated that it -- quote -- "was not advised of any campaigns" and was not aware of any processes to lobbying against climate action by the chamber of commerce. another company reported that -- and i quote

markey: thank you, madam president. i rise to just echo the sentiments of the senator from florida. his state has suffered an unspeakable tragedy. it is something that, unfortunately, brings together two terrible biases, one against the lgbt community, the other a religiously-based radical attack inspired by isis that at that nightclub all came together. and to the senator from florida and to everyone in florida, our deepest, deepest sympathies to you. it was, of course, something that was understood in massachusetts because he mentioned the tsarnaev brothers as an inspiration to him. they struck on patriot's day in 2013 in the united states. mohamed atta and the other nine were in boston when they hijacked the two planes from logan, airport. so we know that these people are out there. we know that they're hate-filled -- we know that their hate-filled message is intended to kill innocent americans. and we saw it once again, and, unfortunately, the target was a gay nightclub in orlando, florida. but for us, i think, we have to learn from this. this man had been investigated as a terr

as president obama was traveling to hiroshima, senator markey gave a speech on the floor of the senate where he had choice words about that. he didn't just say it would break the bank in the 2020s and it was wasteful. he said it was dangerous. most likely to lead to catastrophic nuclear escalation. how do you respond to that criticism and more broadly, why are you going forward with that program? >> another issue i've gotten an e-mail from daryl about. again, like i -- i'm not, you know, going to get into the individual capabilities and modernization. what i will say is we've looked at this in a number of ways. we've tried to determine what capabilities do we have to maintain both in terms of stockpile and delivery systems, so that we can maintain a credible deterrent that can sustain itself for the coming decades? as we hopefully are pursuing additional reductions. at the same time, we've tried to look at ways in which we can change our own way of doing business to make it certainly less likely that there is an inadvertent launch, and so the efforts that we took carefully looking at t

. >> senator markey stepped in, too. >> thank you for letting me testify before you. 25 years ago in a conference held in of all places, moscow, for the security and corporation of europe established as a principle that issues relating to democracy, human rights, and rule of law, and i quote, legitimate concern to all participating states, and to not belong exclusively to ininternal affairs of the state concerned. to the membership of the council of europe, the russian federation has undertaken clear and binding commitments with respect to election standards, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and other important aspects of human rights. in all these principles also enshrined in the russian constitution. in its 60 years, nearly a full generation in power, vladimir putin's power has turned these principles into a dead election. today, elections serve as a ritual, with any meaningful opposition in most cases disqualified from the ballot and with voting mars by intimidation and fraud. not a single national election in russia has been assessed free and fair by the council of eur

thank you very much, chairman kocher, senator shaheen hold -- >> senator markey stepped in too. >> senator mark kirks thank you so much for being here. thank you for the opportunity to testify to appear before you today. 25 years ago at a conference held of all places in moscow, members for the organization of security and cooperation in europe established a principle issues relating to democracy, human rights and rule of law, i quote, matters of legitimate concern to all participating states and do not belong exclusively internal affairs of the state concerned. to the council of europe, russian federation has you know taken clear and binding commitments with respect to election standards, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and other important aspects of human rights. all these principles enshrined in the russian constitution. in 16 years nearly a full generation in power, vladmir putin turned these regimes and principles into a dead letter. today elections in our country serve as mere ritual for ordaining incumbents with most people simply disqualified from the ballot. with voting