merkley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: thank you mr. president, i so much appreciate the leadership of my colleague from ohio who has brought such a focus on ending predatory activities, helping our financial system work for working americans. and indeed that is certainly what all of our effort is about. here on the fifth anniversary of the wall street reform bill,ed dodd-frank bill. my colleague was talking about the humble home mortgage which was turned into a predatory instrument that instead of building the wealth of the middle class of america was designed to strip that wealth. two year teaser rates in which interest rates would go from 4% to 9%, more than doubling. liar loan underwriting in which loans way too large for a family were given to a family just to reap the immediate benefits on the behalf of the mortgage broker the immediate commissions. and indeed steering payments, kickbacks that were paid to mortgage originators to steer their clients the humble homeowner, from the prime loan that they qualified in into the subprime

joining us is jeff merkley of oregon.ou for being here tonight. >> great to be with you. >> is part of the challenge of getting something like this passed, getting support for something like this that you have to convince people that it is legal in most states in the country to fire somebody just for being gay? people don't believe discrimination is legal? >> that's absolutely true. of course we understand when our children say, really, it was illegal or is illegal -- i know my own daughter couldn't believe it an adults couldn't believe it either. a rental contract on a house, yes, it is. it is true in the majority of states in the country and not okay. it is time to end discrimination in a comprehensive fashion and put the lgbt community on the same foundation as ethnicity as race and gender. >> i am one of the people who, as a member of the gay community always felt like the nondiscrimination fight should have come first before marriage and it didn't. the marriage fight not only happened but it won and succeeded beyond

senators flake and merkley and the rest who couldn't be here today that are traveling but we just want to thank them all for this wonderful effort. we need more tennis. thank you. at this time we'd like to present this trophy, this cup from the stripes to the stars. congratulations. thank you mr. speaker. and we yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. without objection, five-minute voting will continue. the question is on the adoption of the resolution. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the resolution is -- mr. polis: mr. chairman, on that i request a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes

what's known as the enda law, e-n-d-a which was a great cause of senator edward kennedy, senator jeff merkley taken it over. it's almost passed the senate, it has no chance in the house under republican leadership. but those two issues really are at the center of the civil rights agenda for gay rights supporters at the moment. >> and the employer non-discrimination act. some people loogs add thk at th and say the lgbt community should be a protected class, much the way that people are protected because they are a minority. where does the argument stand on that and do you think that we could see the courts or other areas of government making moves in this direction? >> they could. one of the curious things about justice kennedy's opinion in the same-sex marriage case and in the defense of marriage act case is that he never precisely addressed the question of whether gay people are a protected class, he simply said "this law, doma and the laws banning same-sex marriage" were discriminatory. but i think the real action will be in the states and in the state legislatures on these question questio

. >> senator merkley. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. and thank you, director cordray, for your testimony. but i want to thank in particular for your leadership of the finally having a watchdog fighting for consumers and fairness in financial transactions. in your testimony you note that your enforcement activities resulted in more than $10.1 billion in relief for 70 million consumers. is my understanding this is specific funds that come from addressing predatory practices that has been returned to 17 million families across america and? >> yeah, it takes different forms. forms. some of it is direct restitution, some is uncompensated victims that get compensated over civil penalty funds. some of it is same mortgage relief, some of it is a debt that they otherwise would require to pay and subject to further costs and proceedings that is forgiven and wiped from the books. but yes it's meaningful relief for american consumers. the other point that senator warren has made me which is worth making come every time the same things don't happen

mary merkley made a documentary about harper leanne "go set a watchman." >> i was able to ask her one question and you can write everything down because she has--she's hard of hearing. she has difficulty seeing. it's not the easiest way to communicate, so you just write it down. i wrote down did you ever think this book was going to be published? it was an early work that had been set aside. she said of course i did. don't be silly. well, we all get to hear her answer on that issue. that was-- >> what do you think that meant don't be silly? >> i think part of me thinks it means don't ask me questions because i'm harper lee. >> is there still that attitude with her? >> yes. everyone around here, and did i several interviews in monroeville everyone around here who sees her regularly, who spends time with her said that the conversations are laided. >> there is talk about her health and mental condition and i noticed a friend quoted she has all her marbles. >> that's her oldest, dearest closest friend, she and her husband gave harper lee the money to quit her job and write. joy, who sees

people like elizabeth warren, senator jeff merkley, tammy baldwin. these people share his views. but i think the media in this country too often does the horse race to the detriment of giving people the issues. bernie sanders is running a serious campaign with serious ideas and solutions for the problems he sees in this country at a very serious time. in fact a crisis moment for democracy and our economy. i think he has caught the wave. is he more surprised about how it is all catching on? perhaps. but he himself has been a very sharp critic of a media which hasn't permitted the full range of views. he says he goes on and talks with reporters. at the end of those interviews people say what do you think of hillary clinton, instead of pushing him on his issues. he is not there to criticize hillary clinton or raise millions of dollars to create warped opposition ads. he is there to have a serious debate. is our country ready for such a campaign? i think we are seeing elements of such readiness. but we haven't seen it. the other excitement, the day after he announced he raised $1.5 m

. >> senator merkley. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman and thank you director cordray for your testimony. but i want to thank you in particular for your leadership of finally having a watch dog fighting for consumers and fairness in financial transactions. in your testimony, you note that the bureau enforcement activities results in more than $10.1 billion in relief for 17 million consumers. this is specific funds that come from addressing pred tory practices that has been returned to 17 million families. >> some is direct restitution, some is uncompensated victims, some is mortgage relief some of it is debt they would other wise be required to pay and might be subject to further cost and court proceedings that are forgiven and wiped from the books. it is relief from a american consumers and the other point senator warren made is every time we correct practices the same things don't happen going forward and you can expect the same money is being saved each year in the future but it is hard to quantify that. >> it is hard to quant

act of 2015 is sponsored by rhode island senator rather congressman david and organ senator jeff merkley and lesbian and transgendered people in the workplace and all areas covered by civil rights act of 1964. supporter says t vital that it will added to the list of protected classes just like race and religion. senator tammy baldwin is a democrat and just took part in the announcement and joins me live from capitol hill. senator baldwin, glad to have you here. my first question is what are the chances it getting passed by republican controlled house and senate? >> well, i would tell you that this is the beginning of a movement. and it's very exciting. if you look at the american opinion on this, americans want their family members, their friends, their neighbors who are gay or lesbian bisexual or transgendered to be treated with the same rights as every other american citizen. and so the american public kind of way out ahead of congress on this. many are surprised to learn there are so many jurisdictions in this country that lack those protections, that actually permit discrimination in

people like elizabeth warren, senator jeff merkley, tammy baldwin. these people share his views.ut i think the media in this country too often does the horse race to the detriment of giving people the issues. bernie sanders is running a serious campaign with serious ideas and solutions for the problems he sees in this country at a very serious time. in fact a crisis moment for democracy and our economy. i think he has caught the wave. is he more surprised about how it is all catching on? perhaps. but he himself has been a very sharp critic of a media which hasn't permitted the full range of views. he says he goes on and talks with reporters. at the end of those interviews people say what do you think of hillary clinton, instead of pushing him on his issues. he is not there to criticize hillary clinton or raise millions of dollars to create warped opposition ads. he is there to have a serious debate. is our country ready for such a campaign? i think we are seeing elements of such readiness. but we haven't seen it. the other excitement, the day after he announced he raised $1.5 mil

there was a bill introduced in the house this week, and the house and senate sponsor by senator merkley that would have a lot of antidiscrimination sanctions for lgbt individuals. >> jordan, i can tell you we applaud the efforts of members of the house and senate to put forth a comprehensive legislation to fight discrimination. while we are going to review the language they put forward, but what we do, then they say the administration shares the goal of insuring americans are treated equally under federal law and we believe legislation is a good next step in the right direction. >> about the general principle, the petroleum reserve as a target and agree with republicans in congress when needed. >> direct your reason for not going to answer your question. the first is that it's hard to talk about -- the first is i am not aware that this is a paid for that is previously offered. therefore it is hard to talk about it in principle because this is the only example of it at least that i've seen. i could be wrong about that. it's hard for me to speculate or opine on the principle at stake. the

i would ask unanimous consent as well to add senators tester, reed of rhode island klobuchar and merkley as cosponsors. the presiding officer: is there objection to setting aside the pending amendment? mr. alexander: mr. president reserving the right to object, mr. president, this is a very important amendment that was thoroughly discussed in the education committee when we considered this legislation. both senator murray and i believe it should be offered on the floor and that senators should have a chance to vote on it. the trouble is that the finance committee objects to the way it's paid for and in a moment on behalf of the chairman, senator hatch from utah, i will have to object, but my hope would be that the senator from pennsylvania who's a member of that committee, could work with the chairman and the ranking member to come up with a different way of paying for the bill so that senators would have a chance to vote on this important amendment today or tomorrow. so i object. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. is there objection to adding the cosponsors? mr. casey: mr. p

you have a cohort in the senate by the way people like elizabeth warren sherrod brown jeff merkley white house can tammy baldwin from wisconsin. these are people who shared bernie sanders views but if you think the media in this country too often does the horse race to the detriment of giving people the issues. bernie sanders is one a serious campaign with serious ideas and solutions for the problems he sees in this country bigger issue is time. a crisis moment. i think he's caught the way. he's caught the wave. is he more surprised about how it's all catching on? perhaps, but he himself has been a very sharp critic of a a needy which hasn't permitted the full range of views. he says he goes on in talks with reporters, does interviews and many times at the end of the envious people say so what do you think of hillary clinton? instead of pushing on his issues. he's not in it to criticize hillary clinton is not in it to raise billions of dollars. he wants to a series of debate. is our country ready for such a campaign i think witnessing elements of such readiness, but we haven't seen it. t

merkley: mr.president i rise to introduce the quality act of 2015, comprehensive civil rights legislation for our lgbt community. there are few concepts as fundamentally american as equality. we were founded on this principle with these simple words -- we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their creator with unalienable rights and among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. for more than two centuries we have been working to fulfill that vision of equality. we've taken direct action as a nation so our laws align with these ideals. we have challenged unjust rules and chosen to advance basic civil rights. martin luther king put forth the vision that the arc of the universe is moral and it bends toward justice and he knew that in the 1950's and 1960's americans were hard at work making that moral arc of the universe bend toward justice and that's the work that we continue here in the u.s. senate here on capitol hill, here in t

people like elizabeth warren, senator jeff merkley, tammy baldwin. these people share his views. but i think the media in this country too often does the horse race to the detriment of giving people the issues. bernie sanders is running a serious campaign with serious ideas and solutions for the problems he sees in this country at a very serious time. in fact a crisis moment for democracy and our economy. i think he has caught the wave. is he more surprised about how it is all catching on? perhaps. but he himself has been a very sharp critic of a media which hasn't permitted the full range of views. he says he goes on and talks with reporters. at the end of those interviews people say what do you think of hillary clinton, instead of pushing him on his issues. he is not there to criticize hillary clinton or raise millions of dollars to create warped opposition ads. he is there to have a serious debate. is our country ready for such a campaign? i think we are seeing elements of such readiness. but we haven't seen it. the other excitement, the day after he announced he raised $1.5 m

i want to thank senators ayotte merkley scott and baldwin as cosponsors and thank chairman alexander and senator murray for their great work in are bringing this bipartisan bill to the floor. this is common sense and bipartisan and i hope it would pass. mrs. feinstein: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from california p. mrs. feinstein: i rise to speak on amendment 2087. it's pretty simple, madam president, what this amendment would do, and i present it on behalf of senator portman and myself, is assure that homeless children have access to h.u.d. housing. today we have 1.3 million children homeless in this country. in my state we have 310,000. the problem is getting a clear definition of an individual who is homeless, and what this bill would do is allow the appropriate authorities in a school to certify that a youngster is homeless so that you don't have a conflict between the h.u.d. certification and the school certification. it's long overdue. i believe it will be helpful and i'm very hopeful that this will pass with a very big vote. thank you very much and i th

merkley: mr. president i rise to address an amendment that i am proposing to the bill that's under discussion, the every child achieves act. i'm not going to ask to call up the amendment at this time, but i certainly would like to do so at a later point in the day. i hope that this amendment will be part of any effort to wrap up debate on this bill because it addresses an important component that is being left out of the discussion on the every child achieves. the every child achieves act is the authorization act that lays out the provision for school policy. it is a bipartisan bill. it's a bill that will give a lot of flexibility to our states. i think it's been a very important effort to address many shortcomings in the former act no child left behind act that in fact left a lot of children behind. in my discussions with educators throughout the state of oregon, with parents and administrators and teachers, they found great great -- a great number of difficulties and problems with an act that wa