. >>> up next, senator jeff merkley is here to talk about the impact of rewriting senator rules. a big rewrite of senate rules that changed the future for a lot of people. and the pope is now very much 234 favor of the nuns on the bus. things have changed for them and the vatican. and our favorite nun on the bus will join me later. [coughing] dave, i'm sorry to interrupt... i gotta take a sick day tomorrow. dads don't take sick days, dads take nyquil. the nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, fever, best sleep with a cold, medicine. dad,thank you mom for said this oftprotecting my future.you. thank you for being my hero and my dad. military families are uniquely thankful for many things, the legacy of usaa auto insurance could be one of them. if you're a current or former military member or their family, get an auto insurance quote and see why 92% of our members plan to stay for life. no question about that. but your erectile dysfunction - that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be m

. >>> up next, senator jeff merkley is here to talk about the impact of rewriting senator rules.re was a big rewrite of senate rules that changed the future for a lot of people. and the pope is now very much 234 favor of the nuns on the bus. things have changed for them and the vatican. and our favorite nun on the bus will join me later. ha, i see what you did... (singing) four calling birds...three french hens... (the guys starts to fizzle out) two... turtle... doves... i really went for it there ya you did... you really, really did now get 3 gigs of data on one line for $65 a month. switch to at&t, buy a new smartphone and get $150 credit per line. i hait's tough, but severi've managed.ease. but managing my symptoms was all i was doing. so when i finally told my doctor, he said humira is for adults like me who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease. and that in clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief. and many achieved remission. humira can lower your ability to fight infec

merkley: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the merkley substitute amendment which is at the desk be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time and passed and the motions to reconsider be considered made and label label made and laid on the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. merkley: thank you, mr. president. i just say a couple words before i turn over the chair to my colleague from west virginia. when i think of mary landrieu, i think of the most tenacious person in the senate standing here, holding forth, fighting for her home, fighting for her values, fighting for her state. i think particularly of the hard work she did on flood insurance, on this issue that was so critical to the state of louisiana, very important to my state too in oregon and many of our other states, but particularly in louisiana. and she was determined, and every time i was on the floor she would say jeff, have you done this

committee there's a bill that is bipartisan but it has not -- we couldn't get it moved because of merkleyand warren said no we are not going to let you do that. it was just a tweak of dodd-frank. i do think we have the problem and maybe it will clarify itself in 2016. i'm assuming that we will come up with a viable candidate and we will have a chance in the general election. one of the ways i answer that to be as diplomatic as the canon is i hope it's a governor or a former governor, period. >> but just to add quickly, it's hard to see senator warren or merkley would bring down, which shut down the government or threaten the fault to get their way. that's the kind of action is different. you never would have done that either. >> i think the leadership is going to have to find a way to deal sternly with some of these members. frankly i have a record to back it up. i would not put up with some of the stuff they have done. that shutdown was one of the dumbest things i ever saw. never would have gotten a result that they said was possible. i think it was a lie to the mic in people and i just

merkley: thank you, madam president. i rise today to address a key unfinished piece of business that is extremely important to the klamath basin of southern oregon. the klamath basin act has not been enacted here at the close of this congress. and in that failure, congress is missing a critical opportunity to put in place a locally developed solution to a longtime water dispute. this failure creates a substantial risk of catastrophic consequences for our ranching and farming families, risks that were entirely avoidable. let me start by telling you what an amazing place the klamath basin is. klamath basin is one of the natural wonders of the american west. it has one of the biggest salmon runs pacific and part of the largest continuous blocks of wild rivers and wild lands on the pacific coast. it is one of the most important migration coast in the pacific coast fly away for bird migration. it is an important place for duck hunters up and down the west coast. the klamath river itself charts a path to the south of crater la

signed by ron wyden, jeff merkley, heidi heitkamp.tated that their concerns will be costly, needlessly restrictive, and hinder . the senators stated the faa needs to act quickly to issue guidelines for developers and operators of unmanned aircrafts, to ensure the safety and privacy of americans. the head of the faa going on some of the sunday shows yesterday to address some of these concerns. we want to hear from you about your experiences with drones, commercial and recreational drones. south river, new jersey on the line for those who support drones. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: i think they are great for war. as far as them being allowed to fly airplanes, i think one of them should be shot out of the sky to teach everybody that you do not go that close. thank you. host: from south river, new jersey. owners,a line for drone 202-585-3882. s on our comment facebook page. join us on that and twitter. causeebook, "they seem to a huge hassle." "i don't need one, drones are a fraud." "drone utilization, it depends. using

senator merkley says, it is still going to take time before her passport is returned, allowing her tofreely to the u.s. but for this oregon mom, her daughter's freedom could not have come at a more perfect time. >> it's going to be a memorable christmas. i will never forget this christmas. >> now, doctors stacy addison's next obstacle is to get her passport back. critics blamed the delay on u.s. senate gridlock. until recently, there was no ambassador in east timor. now that there is finally a diplomatic presence in that kurngts it's hoping the process of bringing addison home will be a lot smoother. >> thanks. >>> we're in the thick of the holiday movie season and california isn't the only place making movie magic anymore. anna werner shows us how much of the lights, cameras and actions moved thousands of miles away from hollywood. >> i've been looking for you, lone star. >> reporter: the hollywood you know is changing. "dallas buyers club," "12 years a slave," all of these weren't filmed in california. they were made here, in louisiana. >> that's right. >> reporter: in fact the bayo

merkley: mr. president, when i came here in 2009, we were in the middle of an enormous meltdown due to high-risk trading inside our major banks, and i wondered whether we as an institution were capable of undertaking this challenge of changing the circumstances around that in order to not have another 2007-2008 meltdown that would do so much damage to families across this country, and i put out an email to everyone and said is anyone interested in taking on this issue for the future stability of our financial system, and the next day i came to the floor, and senator levin said the email you sent out, i want to talk to you about that. i want to partner in taking this on, and immediately basically said we'll work together. i'm not the senior senator who wants to take over this effort, although i would have been glad for that to happen, but he took his -- there was not the ego in it. there was the intellect and the passion and the determination to fix a problem. and to me, the senate should be about

merkley news reports sam liccardo will officially be declared the winner today. challenger dave cortese did concede about a week after the election, but the margin was so small and the ballot counting so meticulous, the county waited to make sure it had an accurate tally in the end. liccardo won by under 3,000 votes. in all, 180,000 votes were cast. >>> taxi drivers could get a leg up on ride share companies because of a proposal considered today. reducing taxi fees for drivers so they can better compete with uber, side car, and lyft. taxi drivers have complained their fees are too high. with fewer people using traditional taxis, drivers aren't making much money. last month drivers clogged up the traffic loop at sfo trying to get you on their side, protesting the airport's decision to allow uber and lyft to pick up and drop off passengers there. >> i should read that how to influence people. >>> apple's late cofounder strive jobs will be a witness in a lawsuit as the company heads to court later today. a videotape deposition of jobs recorded months before his deb

there is a bill that was bipartisan that cannot get moved because of merkley and warren saying that you could not do that. i think we have a problem. clarify itself in 2016. when we come up with a viable , i hope it is a governor or former governor. >> quickly, is hard to see if the senator would shut down the government or threatened to get in their way. you would not have done that, either. frankly, it is easy to say, . would not put up a record a liar to the the republican leader. -- the american people. the republican leader has no carrots and-- tex. -- sticks. >> look at some of the things i am not advocating. there are things that will shock people. it is reaching out. -- and i use this word and caught hell for it -- that some of the new members should be co-opted. do not let them drift to the far right flank. they should have people specifically deputized to deal with new senators. by can solve your problem moving quickly. charge inve a calvary the primary. will come up with a chance to get elected. >> do you want to weigh in on the blame? >> i think he has a bigger ideological a

and i remember my first, our first -- senator franken wasn't here yet, but senator merkley and senator hagan and a number of us, senator bennett and others, we were up, actually, in senator durbin's office, and there was still a question about what was going to happen in the election, because there were thousands of votes out. and so it was kind of getting the new senators, we got on the phone to call senator begich to say we wish him well, and we're countenning on him -- counting on him, and he said, hey, tammy, jake and i are leaving on vacation, because i don't even know where the votes are coming from, i'm going to be there. he knew his state that well. and as someone who was a former chief executive as some others have been former chief executives, i remember him coming here and as many of us as new members kind of scratching our heads about the notion of how this institution would work or wouldn't, didn't work sometimes. but as senator begich mentioned and senator murray at our dinner the other night mentioned, you know, there are a lot of people in this body who are chronic opti

gillibrand, harkin, king, blumenthal, schumer, hirono, klobuchar, boxer, sanders, whitehouse and merkley. mr. reid: madam president? madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: a number of senators have come to me indicating that they've read -- the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. reid: they've read the rules and the time for a vote is 15 minutes. through the chair, is it true the extra five minutes is not in the rule? the presiding officer: would the senator restate the last part? mr. reid: we have been calling votes at the end of 20 minutes. it's my understanding, madam president, that the rule calls for votes being 15 minutes in length. the presiding officer: it's a 15-minute vote with a 5-minute grace period. mr. reid: five-minute grace period? is that in the rule, the grace period? the presiding officer: the chair will research the unanimous consent from january of last -- mr. reid: in the meantime, madam president, i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? mr. hatch: madam president?

merkley: thank you very much. i that my intern, jonathan merkley, be allowed the privileges of the floor through wednesday. the presiding officer: without objection. the majority leader. mr. reid: the two votes scheduled for the morning will be done by voice. the first will be at 2:30 tomorrow afternoon. mr. president, shortly the senior senator from connecticut, senator blumenthal, will ask consent the senate take up and pass the clay hunt suicide prevention act. the reason clay hunt was used as a model for this situation we have is because of his outstanding record. here's a man, they've done special on "60 minutes" for him, he was two tours of duty, a marine in iraq and afghanistan, purple heart, just a wonderful human being. he got out and went and helped with the earthquake in haiti. but, mr. president, he could not overcome what happened to him in his combat mission. so this issue is so important for our veterans. today, since 7:00 this morning to 7:00 in the morning, 22 veterans will kill themselves, commit

these tribes have been waiting for over 100 years, and senator merkley and i, with the whole oregon congressional delegation, intend to be back early next year and will be working to pass these bills and stay at it until justice is done. mr. vitter: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. vitter: thank you, mr. president. also on behalf of senator sessions, i would ask unanimous consent that the committee on finance be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 4137. that the senate proceed to its immediate consideration, that the bill be read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. wyden: reserving the right to object, mr. president -- the presiding officer: the senator from or omplet. mr. wyden: mr. president, i want to be clear as chair of the senate finance committee that i oppose taxpayers subsidizing illegal conduct. and i also oppose setting up a one-size-fits-all federal mandate that's going to create red tape and confusion for our states to impleme