senator merkley? sen. merkley: thank you, mr. chairman.hank you for your leadership on this issue. this challenge, this world challenge. there's a modest group of leader who had an impact on millions of lives and you're one of those leaders and all of you on the panel you are part of that group. huge thanks to you. i think of others who have been part of the conversation. paul farmer, who definitely laid out three pandemic in the world, tuberculosis, malaria, aids and that's the biggest leverage we could have. bono, who took paul o'neill over to africa in 2002 to connect on economic development and on the need to address aids. but you're all absolutely a marvelous and sir elton john as you spoke, you spoke in poetic terms, compassion and love and connection and i was really struck and taken to think about the parable the good samaritan the story in which the individual goes on the road from jerusalem to road for three weeks known as the blood road because it was so common for people to be robbed and beaten there. the priest comes by and se

merkley: mr. president during this trade debate we've often heard a lot about the word "enforcement" or enforceable" particularly the phrase" enforceable labor and environmental standards." but the fact is that there are no enforceable labor and environmental standards. there is new generation of treaty in the t.p.p. that is going to create something that we have not had before and what we've had before has simply failed us. and why is that? well we had side agreements on labor and the environment in nafta and much is made of the fact that, well, we're not going to have side agreements anymore, we're going to actually put these standards right in the treaty itself. so somehow folks are arguing for this treaty that moving the print from over here to here somehow makes it more effective. but that's not the case. we had the same labor and environmental standards in the agreements that we passed a few years ago, agreements that i voted against agreement with colombia the agreement with korea. but what

final amendment i'd like to describe is amendment number 1319 cosponsored by my colleague senator merkley, who was speaking with all of us earlier this evening. this amendment would require the administration to notify the public when it waives "buy america" rirms. -- requirements. wisconsin workers make things, understand we have been one of the top manufacturing states in the nation for generations. now, if we hope to continue making things, we think that we should continue to have our own government as a customer. or put another way u.s. taxpayer dollars should support u.s. jobs. that's why i'm a strong supporter of "buy america" provisions that require federal agencies to purchase american-made products. free trade agreements have historically allowed foreign nations way too much leeway when bidding for our government projects and contracts while not affording american companies the same access. now, i believe that the issues that i've brought up this evening -- these four amendments -- are really important issues. important to our country important to our standing in the world, impor

merkley: mr. president? the presiding officer: is there further debate? mr. merkley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: mr. president i am seeking recognition. the presiding officer: the senator is recognized. mr. merkley: i think it's important at this point in time to be reminded of the concerns of working people across our nation. this has been intense debate because so often in the course of the trade agreements that we have pursued the balance on the other end has been simply that millions of jobs have left this nation. we have lost 50,000 --. a senator: the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. merkley: we have lost five million jobs

merkley: we heard these products will increase the number of products stamped made in the united states of america. that is put forward in trade agreement after trade agreement after trade agreement. the first step in the process is to say look at those markets. wouldn't it be wonderful in that nation if we had direct access, improved access? particularly we've done a series of agreements with very low-wage and low environmental standard, low-enforcement assassinations. that's -- low-enforcement nations. that is the first second. the second stage is we're competing with products made in that country so we better make sure we open a factory there as well. and then suddenly instead of those products coming from the united states to a foreign nation and in fact those products are being made in that foreign nation, then comes stage three. now that we're making those products overseas at a much lower price because of the lower wages, lower environmental standards and lower enforcement it doesn't make sense to make those products in the united states anymore. so that's how we lost five millio

merkley: mr. president i rise today to address the legislation before us, the iran nuclear agreement review act of 2015. which sets up a deliberate process for congressional review of a final nuclear agreement with iran. the united states, our citizens, our president and probably every member of the u.s. senate and house stand united in our commitment to prevent iran from securing a nuclear weapon. nuclear proliferation is a huge danger to human civilization on our planet. the more nations that possess nuclear weapons the more opportunities there are for misunderstandings between nations to trigger first use of a nuclear weapon. the more nations that possess nuclear weapons the more opportunities there are for failures in command and control to result in the unintended use of a weapon. and the more nations that possess nuclear weapons the more opportunities there are for terrorist groups to gain acquisition of a weapon. and certainly the possibility of iran possessing a nuclear weapon poses specia

[applause] senator merkley: i am delighted to be here today to stand with mayor deblasio and governorn and some a champions were fighting for a better america. my father was a mechanic who kept a lumber mill operating. when i was a child in grade school, he said to me, son, if you go through the doors of that school and you work hard, you can do almost anything here in america. that was a vision of opportunity for every child in america to thrive and pursue their dreams and give back to society. that is a vision that is slipping away and that's why we are here today united. need a stronger public education, good paying jobs, the peace of mind that goes with accessible, affordable health care when url. that is the promise we are fighting for. -- when you are ill. are we united? [applause] are we united in the bleak that if you work full-time in america , you should not live in poverty in america? do we believe that higher education is not returning that every child who aspires to which he able to get through the doors of that schoolhouse? that means we will have to control the inflatio

his counterpart jeff merkley democrat from oregon, not yet on board.e, it shows you the divide within the democratic party. one of the reasons the president picked reagan and nike for this backdrop. tom: let's do some breaking news . peter cook, there's another story besides american jobs day. the bbc says david cameron has a majority in the conservatives win decisively. this is just a codification of what was said three hours ago. olivia, we moved from most likely to actually winning. still stunning, isn't it? olivia: two days ago, we knew 40% of those polled were undecided. nobody saw this coming. that is why you're seeing such a big move in the markets. this was unexpected. a huge move. tom: peter cook, to the response in washington, how does president obama adapt to an historic election in london? peter cook to be honest, i don't think all that much changes. barack obama and david cameron have had a pretty close working relationship. he took david cameron to the ncaa tournament. there can be no better invitation from barack obama to another world l

and credit goes to senators whitehouse and merkley and booker who told me they wanted to try to negotiate some changes and i blessed them and they went and did it. and for that i have to thank a senator who no longer is with us ted kennedy who once taught me, he said, as a chairman you need to understand sometimes that you have to turn to your colleagues and let them move forward. and i was happy to do that. and so the changes that came back were partway fix on preemption, a full fix on preempting air laws and water laws when it comes to toxics coenforcement has been fixed. so we're very, very pleased. what is not really fixed however, is we want to make sure that states have even more latitude to move if they see a danger. we want to make sure that if there's a cancer cluster among kids or adults around this country that we can see the federal government move to help them. we want to make sure that asbestos is addressed directly in this bill because 10,000 people a year die because of asbestos exposure. we want to make sure if there's a chemical stored near a drinking water supply that i

senator merkley? >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for your leadership on this issue. this challenge, this world challenge. there's a modest group of leader who had an impact on millions of lives and you're one of those leaders and all of you on the panel you are part of that group. huge thanks to you. i think of others who have been part of the conversation. paul farmer, who definitely laid out three pandemic in the world, tuberculosis, malaria aids and that's the biggest leverage we could have. bono who took paul o'neill over to africa in 2002 to connect on economic development and on the need to address aids. but you're all absolutely a marvelous and sir elton john as you spoke, you spoke in poetic terms, compassion and love and connection and i was really struck and taken to think about the parable the good samaritan the story in which the individual goes on the road from jerusalem to road for three weeks known as the blood road because it was so common for people to be robbed and beaten there. the priest comes by and sees the individual who has been robbed and str

and credit goes to senators whitehouse and merkley and booker who told me they wanted to try to negotiate some changes and i blessed them and they went and did it. and for that i have to thank a senator who no longer is with us ted kennedy who once taught me, he said, as a chairman you need to understand sometimes that you have to turn to your colleagues and let them move forward. and i was happy to do that. and so the changes that came back were partway fix on preemption, a full fix on preempting air laws and water laws when it comes to toxics coenforcement has been fixed. so we're very, very pleased. what is not really fixed however, is we want to make sure that states have even more latitude to move if they see a danger. we want to make sure that if there's a cancer cluster among kids or adults around this country that we can see the federal government move to help them. we want to make sure that asbestos is addressed directly in this bill because 10,000 people a year die because of asbestos exposure. we want to make sure if there's a chemical stored near a drinking water supply that i

merkley: thank you mr. president. returning to the discussion about trade policy and its l impact on businesses, president kennedy once said "the trade of a nation expresses in a very concrete way its aims and its aspirations." well, what are our aims and aspirations in crafting a new trade structure? the president says that his aim and aspiration is to be the writer of the rules for trade in asia. i have a different aspiration. my aspiration is that we create trade that creates living-wage jobs in america that puts people to work making things in america. if we don't make things in america, we will not have a middle class in america. so as we contemplate a massive new trade deal -- the trans-pacific partnership -- and the bill before us to fast track the consideration of the trans-pacific partnership, we should ask ourselves the question: is this about the geo strategic goal in being the leader of writing the rules or is it about writing rules that actually work for working americans? because, you see working america

merkley: i rise today to discuss the budget that is before the senate, this combined house-senate republicanudget proposal my core question has been is this a budget that works for working america? or is this a budget designed for powerful special interests and for those best off in our society? a budget isn't just about the numbers, it's about the vision that it has for america. over 70 years ago president franklin roosevelt in his 1944 state of the union laid out a vision, an economic bill of rights proclaiming -- and i quote -- "in our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. the right to a useful and remunerative job. the right to earn enough and provide adequate food. the right of every family to a decent home. the right to adequate medical care. the right to adequate protection for the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident and unemployment. and the right to a good education. and he closed with these words -- all of these rights spell security. advance ago budget that advances these economic rights for all americans is my top priority. that means a budget