senator merkley. senator merkley: mr. chairman, this amendment creates a point of order against legislation that would allow for citizens earning for any bill that has a decrease of taxes on citizens earning over $1 million per year. our richest americans who are already fabulously more wealthy and little need in help compared to working americans. so this would be a terrific way to fight for order, everyday people trying to have a foundation to thrive rather than giving away our entire treasury to the already most powerful and privileged. senator enzi: after consultation with the parliamentarian, the chair finds the amendment is not germane and out of order. so i rule the amendment out of order. senator merkley: i appeal the ruling of the chair. and ask for a roll call vote. senator enzi: i move to table the appeal. the motion is nondebatable and i'll ask for the yeas and nays. senator grassley: aye. senator crapo: aye. [laughter] the clerk: mr. toomey. senator toomey: aye. the clerk: mr. johnson. senator johnson: aye. s

merkley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: i ask that the quorum call be lifted. without objection. mr. merkley: i ask that my intern sara finley be granted privileges of the floor for the balance of the day. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: thank you very much. mr. president, i am coming to the floor to talk about the challenge we have with forest fires that have been raging in the west, from montana and idaho and washington and oregon and california, and periodically we have devastating fires in colorado and new mexico, nevada. so we have to figure out how we do a better job in a multitude of ways. first, it's very important that we quit treating terrible fire year, enormous fires as if they're some ordinary event, because there is currently no fema-style reaction to terrible forest fires. we respond with fema for for neigh tows and -- for tornadoes and with floods and hurricanes and with earthquakes but not with forest fires. well,

merkley number two. mr. merkley: thank you, mr. chairman. this amendment would create a point of order against legislation that would allow that decrease -- i'll try again. mr. chairman, this amendment would create a point of order against legislation that allows for decrease of taxes on citizens earning over $1 million per year. a condition that is only there for the wealthiest, very wealthiest americans. speaking of which, the top 1% in the republican tax plan ould see an average tax cut up $200,000 apiece. and for the top .1%, it would be over $1 million per person. but an average family with children would see their taxable income -- their taxes increase by thousands of dollars. we don't want to be in this position, do we? in which we're basically making life harder for the middle class while giving away the national treasury and increasing the deficit for the very richest americans? thus we should all be united in promoting and supporting this amendment. mr. enzi: further comments in favor? seeing none, i'll begin the two minutes of opp

merkley: one of the within a projects as they are not viable. it is cheaper to take out trees in big chunks, big clearcuts. that's why we have programs to help fund that thinning. we have a lot in the stimulus bill, various other feel hazardous loads. we need to do a lot more than that. that's an interesting sound. whose phone is that? sounded like it was coming from out there. [laughter] hello? [laughter] so that's one challenge, the projects. one of the things that happens often when we have fires is there are folks who say, well, the best thing to do is just get rid of the environmental side and go in and allow clearcuts without any sort of action and, by the way, let's take out the fire-resistant trees at the same time. that puts off alarm bells. old growthe take out and the fire-resistant trees in the course of try to make a forest more resilient? and since i'm at a time, i won't ask you all to answer that. but i did notice that is exactly 1731,s in senate bill full permission to take out the old growth in the fire-resistant trees. approach

merkley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon.

senator merkley. >> thank you, mr.hairman, thank you for holding this hearing because i think it's so important that has a very bright spotlight on this horrendous situation. i will be happy to use the term that our representatives from the executive branch are not willing to use. this ethnic cleansing, 288 rohingya villages destroyed and not one word from our president. thousands of children slaughtered. not one word from president trump thousands of women raped. thousands of men and women shot as they fled villages. villages surrounded and starved, 600,000 refugees, and not one word from our president. for this horrific situation. are you recommending to the president he speak loudly and forcefully on this issue, if each of you could tell me yes or no? >> senator, as i noted, the president has spoken with a number of leaders about the situations. the president has not made a public statement. are you recommending that he take a forceful public statement to shine the international spotlight on this issue? >> i believe

senator merkley. you mr.kley: thank secretary, and bank both of you secretaries -- and thank both of you secretaries. secretary tillerson, i believe you say to the retention of the digital for first use of nuclear weapons has been a foundational doctrine that is helped keep the peace over the last 70 years. i catch that right? sec. tillerson: yes senator. sen. merkley: i would say maybe not. it has been assured retaliation that has kept that piece. there is a significant -- that peace. there is a significant difference between the two. i believe i heard what you refer to that we hadn't considered the use of nuclear weapons after world war ii. did i hear that right? sec. mattis: senator, i said that we have not initiated the use of nuclear weapons since world war ii. sen. merkley: but we have had serious conversations about the potential of using a nuclear weapon as a first use weapon both in vietnam and korea. mr. chairman, i would like to submit for the record a cia --ument that goes through analyzin

congressman himes, your reaction to what senator merkley said today?the senator raises all the right questions and it's a remarkable thing because as the days go by and as groups like facebook and twitter and social media companies really begin to look and report the incredible breadth of the russian effort to influence our election in every realm, the questions just keep mounting, including the question that the senator was dealing with which is, you know, and again, you don't assume up front there was necessarily a u.s. person assisting in the very sophisticated targeting of those key swing states but it sure raises the question. >> and this is the part that really hasn't been focused on until fairly recently. there's been a general notion, well, okay, whatever the interference was, it didn't reach into votes. >> well, yeah. and, you know, we will probably never know the answer to the question which comes up all the time which is did it all make a difference? you know, there's no way to go out and poll the sample size you would need to know and find

merkley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: and i ask unanimous consent that my intern, nisa kerner have privileges to the floor for the balance of the day. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: the most powerful words in our constitution are the first three words: we the people. it sets up the mission statement for our nation. or as president lincoln put it, a nation of the people, by the people, and for the people. our founders did not start out our constitution with the words we the powerful or we the powerful and privileged. they didn't proceed to say that our form of government is all about the powerful and privileged ruling for themselves to make themselves richer at the expense of everyone else. thus, going back to the foundation, the vision of our nation is appropriate because our republican colleagues have put forward a document, a budget with a tax plan that is all about government for

so, thank you to my colleague, senator merkley. he worked with me on a letter we sent to ambassador hailey regarding this very issue of ethnic cleansing in rohingya some days ago. 21 of my colleagues signed on to it. have each of you reviewed that letter? okay. thank you. i saw an affirmative nod from each. we called on the burmese government to permit safe access to journalists, u.n. fact finders and to humanitarians. and secretaries murphy and scarela, you indicated the number one humanitarian priority is to gain asche ccess to those need in the rakhine state. ms. seary, you called the lack of access the main challenge and you say that due to restrictions imposed by the burmese authorities that access is not happening. why is the lack of access to effected populations the main challenge and what is the burmese precise role in hindering that access? >> senator, thank you for your question and for the letter from you and so many other members highlighting that issue of access is absolutely essential. thank you for including that in

merkley: thank you, mr. president. our nation was founded on a principle encapsulated in the first three and most important words of our constitution -- we the people. our founders wanted to have a nation that didn't work for the benefit of the powerful and the privileged, but for decisions by the people, for the people, as president lincoln so eloquently described our nation. not a nation by and for the powerful, not a nation by and for the privileged, but by and for the people. tomorrow, a bill is coming to the floor that couldn't be more of a buy and for the powerful bill than we have seen on the floor of the senate before. a bill completely contrary, the fundamental values embedded in our constitution. now, this bill is a budget bill, and at its heart it says we're going to do $5 trillion of tax cuts almost completely for the richest americans, and we're going to do so by gutting programs that make america work for working americans. now, the president said when it comes to tax reform, i want to help the middle cla

merkley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: four weeks ago, i stood here on the floor of the senate to call for increased funding to fight fires. this is just one of the dramatic pictures of oregon ablaze. thousands and thousands of acres. i had the experience of driving roughly 350 miles in my state and never escaping the smoke from the fires that were in every single corner, every quadrant of the state of oregon. we have seen the challenge of mother nature at work this year, hurricanes harvey and irma and maria hitting in texas and florida and puerto rico, but let's not forget the damage, the incredible damage being done in montana and idaho and oregon and washington by these extraordinary fires. over the last decade, we have seen an average of 50,000 fires in america each year. and they destroy, burn up more than five million acres. but this year, the count is well over eight million acres and counting. in oregon, we normally have fires that burn on average about 500,000 acres, but this year we're well over 600,000

merkley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: mr. president, there are few things we do here in the senate that matter more or have longer lasting impacts on our nation than confirming individuals to lifetime appointments on district courts and circuit courts and the supreme court. it is the senate's duty, as alexander hamilton laid out in the federalist papers, to prevent the appointment of unfit characters. i have often thought that this power would be used rarely because a president would seek to make sure that he or she sent qualified individuals to the senate for confirmation but we're seeing something quite different today. we're seeing the president engaged in a zeal to pack the court with extreme right-wing ideologues and to ram them through this confirmation process without due review. just yesterday, the american bar association sent a letter to the judiciary committee, saying that leonard graz, president trump's nominee to the eighth circuit court of appeals, is not qualified to serve as a federal judge, and yet his confir

merkley: would you perhaps yield for a question? mr. crapo: yes. mr. merkley: the thing that confused me about your commentary is that you referred to people being forced with this through court, they would have a chance for arbitration as opposed to being locked into arbitration. under this rule, people would have the option of arbitration? mr. crapo: yes. that's why those who criticized our effort to reject this rule said that we are trying to stop forced arbitration, the rule itself would allow arbitration agreements. it stops the company from allowing the company to reach an agreement with the consumer to avoid class action litigation. mr. merkley: my understanding is when you have an arbitration clause you have one option, to go into arbitration. under the rule, you have two options, you have the ability to go to court or the ability to go to arbitration. mr. crapo: let me reclaim my time and you can respond on my time. let me clarify, as i indicated, even the cfpb in its own study said that most of the contract -- not all companies use the same c

merkley, number two. for the reasons i stated earlier i oppose the amendment. does anyone seek recognition in favor? >> this amendment creates point of order against legislation allowing citizens earning for any bill that has a decrease of taxes on citizens earning over a million dollars per year, our richest americans who are already fabulously more wealthy and little need of help compared to working americans, so this would be a terrific way to fight for ordinary, everyday people trying to have a foundation to thrive rather than give away our entire treasury to the already most powerful and privileged. >> after consultation, the chair finds the amendment non- germane and out of order so i ruled the amendment out of order. >> i appeal the ruling, mr. chair and asked for a roll call vote. >> i moved to table that appeal. of motion is non- debatable. the clerk will call the role. [roll call vote] [roll call vote] [roll call vote] [roll call vote] [roll call vote] [roll call vote] [roll call vote] [roll call vote] [roll call vote] >> mr. chairman, there are 12 ay

senator merkley. for the reasons i stated earlier, i amend.the point of order against legislation that would allow for citizens earning for any bill that has a decrease of taxes on citizens earning over a million dollars per year. the richest americans who are already fabulously more wealthy iand compared to the working americans, so this would be a terrific way to fight for ordinary everyday people needing a foundation to thrive rather than giving away the entire treasury to the already most powerful and privileged. >> after consultation with the commentary in the chair finds that the amendment is not germane and out of order. i would ask for a roll call vote. i'd move to table the appeal and i will ask for the yeas and nays. [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] there are 12 yeas in 11 nays. >> the amendment is tabled. next is stabenow number eight. .. >> [roll call] >> [roll call] [roll call] [roll call] >> the appeal is tabled. next is number 10 these seek recognition?. >> day meet opposition?. >> yes. go-ahead. >> this is about the reserve

we look forward to merkley's report when he's back. with that, the meeting is adjourned. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2017] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] a a senator corker there just leaving the room. he'll be atepping the weekly party lunch soon which president trump will also be attending today. the two of them publicly criticizing each other. we'll bring you updates after their party lunches which are expected to focus on tax reform. and this hearing on u.s. policy toward burma including the crisis with the rohingya minority will be available in its entirety online at c-span.org. just search our video library. secretary of state rex tillerson is expected to get recommendation this is week on whether to declare the crisis there a genocide. we'll keep you updated on the c-span networks. now we'll take a look at some of the latest dealing with the current health care law in the united states. this is from today's "washington journal." >> washin

we would hear from senators merkley and murray and later senator jack reed of maryland. >> our nation was founded on a principle encapsulated in the first most important words of the constitution we the people. our founders wanted us to have a nation that didn't work for the powerful and privileged but for the people by the people and for the people as president lincoln so eloquently described the nation mocks by hand for the privileged i am for the people. tomorrow a bill this coming to the floor that couldn't be more of a powerful bill than we've seen on the floor of the senate beforere. the fundamental values in the constitution, this bill is a budget bill and it at its heart it says we are going to do $5 trillion of tax cuts almost completely for the richest americans by cutting programs that make america work for working americans. it says i'm not going to do anything for the rich and powerful but why, i ask you is if coming for the rich and powerful? president trump came and explained how youo can make a promise that you are going to do tax reform for theou middle clas that is a

jeff merkley / oregon (d) :17 -:26 those forests if they're not thinned if they're not tended to, insteadf being resilient to fires like an old growth forest, they burn very easily. a group of bipartisan lawmakers from california, oregon, utah, colorado and idaho introduced the wilfire disaster funding act of 2017. rita hite / american forest foundation :36-:46it says that one to two percent of fires that are the most expensive and are catastrophic, lets take them and budget for them like we would for other natural disasters.rita hite of the american forest foundation. it's a conservation organization that represents the 21 million individuals who own forest land . the organzation says wildfire funding, affects people and businesses toorita hite / american forest foundationso it impacts them directly and it also impacts them indirectly, when we spend a lot of money fighting fires and those dollars are taken away from family and individual land owners. alexandra limon / @alexlimonnews 1:08-1:18some funding for recover from this year's wildfires is rolled into the hurricane relief bill maki

i was able to interview oregon senator merkley on "the beat," a democrat looking at the issues and he that it's very likely that russian hackers received american help when targeting voters on facebook. >> we turn to collusion. well, the plot just gets thicker. we now know thanks to information released today that very carefully crafted targeting was done in michigan and in wisconsin. >> are you seeing that the circumstantial evidence suggests they would have needed american expertise to do that? >> yes. that is certainly the likely result. >> you are saying it looks like some americans helped the russians and bigger question is whether they were affiliated with donald trump or not? >> i'm saying very likely. >> very likely. an idea there that americans helped according to this senator and the only questions if they were linked to trump. i have more on the beat tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. eastern and more importantly more ahead tonight. stay with us. we have a question about your brokerage fees. what did you have in mind? i don't know. $4.95 per trade? uhhh and i was wondering if your broke

merkley: i am very pleased to hear that. i was very struck when i heard this. they would stand up today if we were to start -- discussing the effect. list for today's conversation. aumf, myo the 2001 colleague from kentucky, please correct me if this is wrong. the most rational people, aumf wouldthe 2001 not see the connection. i have it here in my hand. earlier, secretary tillerson, you were noted that you were not sure of the motivations behind that aumf. it is so clearly laid out. it is very specifically targeted to use all necessary and appropriate force against nations, organizations and persons authorized or committed to terrorist attacks. those 2001about attacks. what we are struggling with as a committee and our role in this constitutional balance is between a situation, a vision of the past in which our cost -- ourn was framed and constitution was framed and the modern battlefield of the world, in which terrorist troops are scattered about. whether what you are asking for, which sounds like permanent, worldwide ability for the to take onn its own radic

. >> with me now, democratic senator jeff merkley who sits on the foreign relations committee.gon, one of the 21 states targeted. you've expressed these he concerns before. walk us through how oerg and these states get ready. and any thoughts you want to share on the collusion part of the investigation. >> one of the most vulnerable parts is our voter database. that's why care. back-ups are kept so it can be restored if it was successfully hacked. our voting system which involves vote by mail is impossible to hack. citizens have two and a half weeks the return they will. they are kounlth by a system and tallied without being connected to the internet. so everybody in the country who wants a system that is resilient to such hacking should look at oregon's system sfl. so you have that confidence. >> the plot just gets thicker. we now know thanks to information released today that very carefully crafted targeting was done in michigan and wisconsin. michigan which had a vote difference of 10,000 votes,22,0 cases, less than 1%. and how did this sophisticated targeting occur. who pro

jeff merkley / oregon (d) 1:02-1:10 what it does is deliver about 4 trillion dollars in tax breaks, tax wealthiest republicans say slashing the corporate tax rate will draw businesses back to the u-s which in turn will create jobs and higher wages. cory gardner / colorado (r) we know right now that it can add as much as 9 thousand dollars to the average median household income in this country. simply by lowering taxes means more wages to the american worker.democrats disagree. they say those estimates are over stated, and there's no guarantee in the bill that corporations would pass on tax savings in the form of higher wages. in washington alexandra limon. (grant) time now to check on our weather... with chief meterologist brittney shipp. strong high pressureover the region this afternoon along with offshore flow hasresulted in very warm to hot temperatures. many inland locationsthroughout the central coast have exceed 90 deg f with the big surstation reporting 101 deg f. a few lower 90s also being reported in and around the oakland area at at locations such as half moonbay. do expect a

jeff merkley / oregon (d) :17 -:26 those forests if they're not thinned if they're not tended to, instead to fires like an old growth forest, they burn very easily. a group of bipartisan lawmakers from california, oregon, utah, colorado and idaho introduced the wilfire disaster funding act of 2017. rita hite / american forest foundation :36-:46it says that one to two percent of fires that are the most expensive and are catastrophic, lets take them and budget for them like we would for other natural disasters.rita hite of the american forest foundation. it's a conservation organization that represents the 21 million individuals who own forest land . the organzation says wildfire funding, affects people and businesses toorita hite / american forest foundationso it impacts them directly and it also impacts them indirectly, when we spend a lot of money fighting fires and those dollars are taken away from family and individual land owners. alexandra limon / @alexlimonnews 1:08-1:18some funding for recover from this year's wildfires is rolled into the hurricane relief bill making its way throug

jeff merkley / oregon (d) :17 -:26 those forests if they're not thinned if they're not tended to, instead growth forest, they burn very easily. a group of bipartisan lawmakers from california, oregon, utah, colorado and idaho introduced the wilfire disaster funding act of 2017. rita hite / american forest foundation :36-:46it says that one to two percent of fires that are the most expensive and are catastrophic, lets take them and budget for them like we would for other natural disasters.rita hite of the american forest foundation. it's a conservation organization that represents the 21 million individuals who own forest land . the organzation says wildfire funding, affects people and businesses toorita hite / american forest foundationso it impacts them directly and it also impacts them indirectly, when we spend a lot of money fighting fires and those dollars are taken away from family and individual land owners. alexandra limon / @alexlimonnews 1:08-1:18some funding for recover from this year's wildfires is rolled into the hurricane relief bill making its way through congress. but lawma

senator murray, my colleagues from idaho, senator risch and crapo, our colleagues from oregon, senator merkley and wyden, introduced a bill to help reduce our risk when it comes to the fire seasons and what we can do to better protect our communities. that is the kind of planning and adaptation that we think we need to address. today's report cannot be ignored. it cannot be ignored that the federal government is going to have to spend this much money on dealing with the impacts of climate. that's what the government accountability office is saying. it says we need a better plan. we need to reduce costs. we need to look at these impacts and make sure that we as a nation are putting every resource into this or otherwise we really will be spending trillions of dollars. that trajectory is real. that's what the g.a.o. report says. hundreds of billions of dollars now, trillions in the future. but if we would simply recognize these impacts and start addressing them by having agencies recognize this and plan for it both in the adaptation and mitigation, i guarantee you we can save the taxpayers money.

merkley: mr. president, i think it's going to be a very robust conversation about taxes. and when we look into the eyes of working americans, i hope my republican colleagues are ready to answer this question, and that is, why do they, the republican party, want to send $3.5 trillion of tax benefits to the top 1%? the top 1%. why not spend the tax benefits on the middle class? my colleagues keep coming to the floor saying this is all about the middle class. but they don't mention that in fact every single major change is all about benefits for the richest 1%. changing the dynasty tax to create a dynasty loophole. wow, that really doesn't benefit anybody in the working class. lowering the top bracket while raising the bottom bracket, well, that doesn't help anybody in the working class. providing a special pass-through for those who can put their business activities into limited liability corporations, have a special low rate, that certainly doesn't help anybody in the middle class. one provision after another after another targeted at the richest americans while coming and

merkley: i want to recognize the articulate, thoughtful, passionate comments that have just been delivered by our new senator from nevada. she's already in the months here has served effectively in committees, effectively on deliberations on legislation and now she brings her voice here to this senate chamber which over the history of our country so many important conversations and dialogues have taken place wrestling with the challenges we have and looking for the path to build a future we desire. and so i welcome you. of course you've been here for some time now, but welcome you now to this, being part of of this dialogue here in this chamber, an honor that is something granted to only a few people in our nation to be able to come voice the concerns of their fellow americans, their home state constituents and strive to persuade colleagues join in an effort to make our nation and this world a better place. thank you. a senator: mr. president, i would ask suspension of the quorum. the presiding officer: the senate is not in a quorum call, and the senator is recognized. ms. stabenow: well t