senator merkley? senator merkley: thank you for >> holding this hearing. we have a fundamental conflict regarding states rights and federal rights. it was back in 1996 that oregon developed a medicinal marijuana program. at is a long time ago. we are talking 23 years. during that time, we have seen the nation has changed and many states have exercised their state rights, their state rights, to address what they felt was in the best interest of their citizens, but there is a heavy hand in the federal government here trying to make life as miserable as possible for citizens across our nation. so our basic argument is let's stand with states rights, with the judgment from across the nation that individuals or legislators are doing the best they can for their people, and not proceed to create a federal chaos that is good for money laundering and for organized crime, and good for robbery, and good for cheating on your taxes, and good for cheating on your payroll but bad for citizens. let's correct this problem in this fundamental relationship. i'm delighted tha

left wing populist customer back in 2015 when things already looked dire for argentina's economy merkley promise to cut inflation and banish poverty both pledges have proven pipe dreams. will leave behind 40 percent poverty and an inflation rate twice what he inherited. the industry and trade a twinkling consumptions been falling for 15 months. what is growing is the need for social welfare centers a bowl of stool like this as oh many of these people will eat today the soup kitchen in one of the city's poor districts provides food to around 200 of them every day and more come all the time. it's terrible when people have to ask for food. it feels demeaning. analysts say national debt has risen dramatically under mclean he borrowed a record sum from the international monetary fund $57000000000.00 and as the peso falls in value it's growing more and more difficult to repay. his loss could be her again in the late october elections former president wants to return to the political stage as vice president and the center left coalition store owner. says things can't get any worse than they are

merkley: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr.erkley: i'm honored to join my colleague who has led this battle for the vision of the for the people act that will restore our we the people democratic republic. here we are on the floor of the senate, an institution that once reverberated with great debates on the great issues our nation faced, issues of war and peace, issues of civil rights, issues of health care and housing and education and infrastructure and living-wage jobs, issues of equal opportunity, issues of environmental pollution, issues that affect the fundamental success of each family in america and our collective success as a nation. but if you're sitting today observing the senate from the benches up above, you'd be hard-pressed to see any of that because those debates are not happening in the u.s. senate. this chamber is silent on the great issues facing america. now, the majority leader promised before he was majority leader that things would be different under his leadership. he said, and i quote, i said it under

wing populist questionnaire back in 2015 when things already looked dire for argentina's economy merkley promise to cut inflation and banish poverty both pledges have proven pipe dreams. will leave behind 40 percent poverty and an inflation rate twice what he inherited. industry and trade consumptions been falling for 15 months. what is growing is the need for social welfare centers a bowl of stool like this is oh many of these people will eat today the soup kitchen in one of the city's poor districts provides food to around 200 of them every day and more come all the time. it's terrible when people have to ask for food. it feels demeaning. analysts say national debt has risen dramatically under mclean he borrowed a record sum from the international monetary fund $57000000000.00 and as the peso falls in value it's growing more and more difficult to repay. his loss could be her again in the late october elections former president wants to return to the political stage as vice president and a center left coalition store owner or day says things can't get any worse than they are now to see

let's ask a member of the senate committee on foreign relations, democratic senator jeff merkley of oregon state. is it not your contention as a member of that committee that a president or anyone in elected office ought not be asking foreign governments to interfere with american political elections for their own personal gain? >> rev, good to be with you. no, this is clearly an extensive abuse of power. i think bill taylor, who was the acting ambassador to the chief mission to the ukraine, who was a professional diplomat. he had been an ambassador to the ukraine under george h.w. bush. he said i think it's crazy for the president to be essentially exchanging security assistance for political assistance or political campaign help. i think, yes, it's crazy, and it's more than crazy. it's a huge abuse of power. >> now, when we hear a statement like that that he thought it was crazy, and we're talking, as you just stated, about abuse of power, we're talking about a president now that talked about america first and all these things that clearly in two instances the whistle-blower talking abou

merkley: thank you. i come to the floor to recognize kaelin gaffney, a long time member of my senate team who after nearly 11 years is leaving to start a new chapter in her life. kaitlin has been a key part of team merkley since our earliest days. in fact, she was part of the original team that built our office and our constituent services operation from scratch. i don't know how many folks here have been part of opening a senate office, but it's not easy. it's daunting. you walk into a completely empty office. no computers, no phones. not even the basics in terms of pens and paper. and you know you have responsibilities, and you need to start fulfilling them. in the early days, we haven't have a computer system to track our constituents' thoughts and opinions, so kaitlin and the team wrote everything down on paper before moving to spreadsheets. there was no training on how to serve constituents, but from day one, that's exactly what we were determined to do and that she was determined to do. so you have

merkley: mr. president, thank you. a huge thanks to my colleague and for -- not just for deferring to me to make comments, which i'm going to make very brief, but also for the leadership of the subcommittee, the bipartisan work. it's the way the senate should work. let's just expand that spirit to the entire chamber and we'll make a lot of progress. this bill makes funding for important rural development programs including housing, including rural broadband very essential all across america. it provides assistance with farm ownership and farm operating loans because access to credit to farmers is critical to stay in business, and it helps new farmers come into the farming and ranching community, including minorities, women, and veterans. it provides critical funding for snap. in our country, no one should go hungry. it assists with school meal equipment grants, farmers market nutrition program and commodity supplemental food program, all relevant to making sure that our children and our families have basic nutrition. a

terry mcsweeney joins us from merkley. people felt it in a lot of different areas. people felt it in berkeley? >> reporter: they felt it here on university avenue. joining me now here is ala. let's talk to ala first. you were sitting here. what did you feel? >> i just felt my chair shaking a bit, so it was like a slight tremor for aortebout t okay. what goes through -- was there the adrenaline rush, thinking is this the big one? what went through your mind? >> honestly, i actually thought it was very light. so i just thought maybe a car passed by really fast. it was very mild. i looked over and she was like, oh, is that an earthquake? we're like, oh, it's an earthquake. we both felt it. and then everyone else in the restaurant was like, oh, yeah, we felt it, too. >> reporter: okay. so you also felt it, but it was nothing to get your adrenaline pumping to get you to get up and run out of here? >> no, not like that. it was just, like, shaking my chair. i looked at the walls. they were shaking a littleit. looked over at ala. did you feel it? she said, yeah. was it an e

tonight, senator merkley will be joined and conversation with ralph ronald. he is currently the executive producer of community engagement of public radio he has worked since 1987 serving previously as news director and program director and also serving as the host of the record and award-winning program the conversation. among many other programs. please help me in joining them both. [applause] on there has been so much going n the border just in the last few days, as owners try to catch up on the news i realized it might be useful to begin with what has been happening lately and i wonder if you can update us on what has gone on in the last week or so on the immigration issue. >> thank you everybody for coming tonight to talk about this. we are in a very disturbing phase here in the united states of america and to answer your question, i almost have to go back 14 months if you do not mind and that is when i first went down to the border because i read jeff sessions speech called zero-tolerance and it was six months before the election and not surprising to h

merkley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: mr. president, i ask that my intern, antonio bena, ania, be granted privileges of the floor for the balance of the day. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: mr. president, i was deeply saddened to hear the news on monday of the death of our former colleague, kay hagan. she is the sister, the wife, the aunt of navy veterans, a daughter-in-law to a two-star marine corps general, daughter of a former florida mayor, niece to a former united states senator, and governor. service was in kay hagan's veins. she spent an early career in financial services, but it was only a matter of time until she decided to get directly engaged in public policy. in office, she was a fierce and unwavering advocate for our men and women in uniform, a staunch fighter for the right of every american to have health care, a warrior for women and children. the people of north carolina and the people of the united states are fa

. >>> coming up next, democratic senator jeff merkley of oregon joins al sharpton to discuss the impeachment a potential trial in the senate minutes away on "politicsnation" at 5:00 p.m. eastern only on msnbc. new pasta and grill combos starting at $9.99. only at applebee's. miracle miracle miracle e miracl i've always been fascinated by what's next. and still going for my best, even though i live with a higher risk of stroke due to afib not caused by a heart valve problem. so if there's a better treatment than warfarin... i want that too. eliquis. eliquis is proven to reduce stroke risk better than warfarin. plus has significantly less major bleeding than warfarin. eliquis is fda-approved and has both. what's next? reeling in a nice one. don't stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. while taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily and it may take longer than usual for any bleeding to stop.

jeff merkley provides a first-hand account of conditions for migrant families at the un southern border and former utah republican congressman jason jacobs argues liberals are trying to undermine the trump presidency . watch the beginning at 8 pm eastern on cspan2 and enjoy book tv this week and every weekend on cspan2. >> the black hills of south dakota are a very sacred area . >> the black hills i believe at one time or another there is a piece of the rest of the world here somewhere. >> we are in the epicenter of sometimes testy relations between native and non-native people. >> this weekend that c-span cities tour takes you to rapid city south dakota. we will tour downtown to see a collection of life-size statues of every american president and visit the journey museum where the complex history of this area is told . >> i'm looking at the custer expedition , the venture picture take away is that the game changer. >> situated in the western part of the state we go into the nearby black hills national forest to see matt rushmore, the state top tourist destination. and we will visit th

before the senate, i ask it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the remarks of senator merkley senator markey. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. markey: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. markey: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise today to speak about the impeachment inquiry currently under way in the house of representativesment. the house impeachment inquiry is a solemn and serious matter. it concerns the efficiently conduct of the president of the united states and it implicates matters of grave importance. our national security, the rule of law, and the very foundations of our constitution. we all, democrats and republicans alike, have a duty to defend our democracy, so when we are confronted with evidence that president donald trump abused his power and violated his oath of office by seeking foreign interference in our elections and then sought to cover it up, we have a constitutional obligation to investigate. the evidence we have already seen validates speaker pelosi's decision to open an impeachment inquiry

. >> senator merkley. >> mr. am, what forces did we rely on for liberating raqqa? >> that was sdf forces with again, advise assistant and company by u.s. special forces and other -- >> the kurds did the heavy fighting in a very difficult assault. they lost a lot of people and their vision for why they were fighting was it because they hoped to have an autonomous area in this northern syrian triangle that might essentially give them some sense of ability to govern themselves? >> their main motive, i believe, was to destroy isis because they had almost been destroyed by isis themselves in 2015. >> i've talked to many of the political cadre who have ideas of an autonomous area in northeast syria, but that's part of the political process that we're working on on another channel. >> there was, to be fair, and it's difficult, i think, for english speakers which will be a self-governed autonomous area with the whole philosophy of democratic control, and they were fighting for a vision of the future. you just had a discussion with senator graham about reversing this decisi

senators hoeven and merkley, murkowski and udall, senators collins and reed, senators graham and shaheen. i've often said senators are merely constitutional impediments to their staff. senator shelby and i are lucky to have such staffs. they work long days and nights. i'd ask unanimous consent that full remarks be put in the record and the list of staff, both republicans and democrats who deserve our staff be included in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: i yield the floor. i'd ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. there is. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or wishing to change their vote? seeing none, on this vote the yeas are 84, the nays are nine, the 60-vote threshold having been achieved, the bill is passed, as amended. the senator from utah. mr. lee: madam president, i ask unanimous consent the senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to h.r. 2740. the presiding officer: is there objectio