mikulski: mr. president? mr. president, today i will vote against senator mccain's amendment 4229 to add $18 billion for additional spending for department of defense. mr. president, it's really not in order. i support the troops in their mission, especially at maryland's nine military bases. while there are many items i'd like to see more money for, i believe we can meet the needs of our national defense within the budget cap. for fiscal year 2017, the department of defense appropriations bill reported unanimously by the appropriations committee last week did that. the defense appropriations bill accomplishes many objectives without a budget gimmick. it uses base funding to provide $600 million to meet israel's missile defense, an increase of $455 billion above the request. the mccain amendment offers $465 million appropriations will have $600 million for israeli defense. let's look at new modern ships. the mccain amendment authorizes $90 million less than the ship than what we do. we put in $175 million. the mc

i have introduced an amendment with my colleagues, senator mikulski of maryland, and senator of hawaii to increase ci funding, to strengthen the prevention of pay crimes and then the enforcement of our a crime laws and our civil rights laws. the amendment is now cosponsored by 18 other members of united states senate. i. i think it is really important to understand what a hate crime is. a hate crime is a crime first off that has to be an underlying criminal act. so it is not about hate speech, it is about a crime where in the victim of the crime are victims of the crime are targeted basedt on a particular characteristic. sometimes we hear about hate s crimes about guess the lgbt because of their sexual or and orientation but hate crimes are often based on religion or race, or ethnicity or gender.argeted hate crimes targeted against people based on their characterization or their characteristics are done so victimiz because not only are the victims victimized, but it sends a message of terror and hate through a community, through all people who share characteristics with victims. or who

mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: mr. president, i rise in support of the reed-mikulski amendment to respond to threats to our nation by raising the caps for both defense and nondefense spending. all agree that we must defend the security of the united states, so many argue a we need more money for d.o.d. even though d.o.d. already consumes 50% of all discretionary spending. quick tutorial on the federal budget. discretionary spending is $1 trillion. the two other big expenditures are interest on the debt and funds, the trust funds particularly for earned benefits like social security and medicare. but the discretionary spending, what we can decide to spend, of that $1 trillion, $500 billion goes to defense. now, we all know we're under some pretty big threats. we have fought a 15-year war. our men and women deserve the best training, the best challenge and the support for themselves and their families. i don't argue that, but i just want people who like to say i'm a numbers guy, let them know what the numbers are. now, i

mikulski: mr. chairman, of the veterans committee, is it the desire of the other party to be doing like a colloquy, an extensive colloquy on the veterans first act? i'm trying to get the lay of the land here on the floor because the commerce-justice act -- this is really a parliamentary question to you. the pending business is the commerce-justice appropriations. we're now debating the veterans first act. i'm not objecting to that, but could you tell me what the lay of the land is here? mr. isakson: happily. the lay of the land is we asked for 45 minutes for a colloquy to discuss the veterans first bill, which we're not process of doing now. senator blumenthal, the ranking member, will join us in a minute. we should be completed about 5:15, and that was the time we asked for. ms. mikulski: first of all. thank you, senator. i in no way want to impede this conversation. i didn't realize that you had asked for 45 minutes. i really found these comments by the supporters of the bill really quite instruc

now barbara mikulski used to laugh and say i do anything to get money. i had bakes bake sales for barbs, bowling for barb and barbecue for bar. women would give her five or $10 but that was it. we had to kind of show women that it would give to politicians that they wanted to support and we would tell them a lot about what was going on in the campaigns, what are we doing with the campaign so they had a lot of confidence about where they were investing. over the years we have turned emily's list into this powerful financial resource. about 90% of our funding comes from women. >> absolutely. if you could describe in a little detail, how you put together the information, how does that process work? >> we essentially invented political fundraising. back in the 80s, everybody got their money from committees. they have legislative agendas so they support incumbents. legally they can only give up to 5% of their election. our members were smart people. instead of just contributing, why don't we raise money for them. in the early days i would do events for emily'

let me first extend my thanks to chairman shelby and to ranking member mikulski for putting together a truly bipartisan bill. mr. murphy: i'm honored to be a member of the appropriations committee. this is a difficult bill to put together but they did very good work in the subcommittee to make this a product that both sides could support. and so i thank them for allowing me to be a part of that process. second, let me acknowledge the remarks that senator mikulski who noted that in many ways the world and the country has changed since this bill was scheduled to come to the floor. our heartbreaks collectively in this country for the citizens of orlando and as i'll speak in a moment, in particular in connecticut. our heartbreaks for the people of orlando because we know in a very real way the pain that exists there today but we also know how that pain is really never ending, how the ripples of that pain are unceasing and unrelenting and they span generations. they span neighborhoods. they span years. newtown is still putting itself back together, probably will be for a long time and orl

mikulski: mr. president, i appreciate the gentleman from utah's response with whom i have a great deal of respect, but i want the record to show the democrats are not playing some kind of privatization card. this has been a proposal that has come from the other party time and time again to do that -- to do that -- mr. hatch: would the senator yield on that? ms. mikulski: mr. president, i believe i have the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland has the floor. ms. mikulski: we're not playing a social security card. we don't believe you should play with social security. that's why many of us opposed the chain cpi. that's washington talk which would dramatically and irrevocably lower the cost of living with social security beneficiaries -- which social security beneficiaries get already. so speaking up to protect senior citizens to make sure that he get their cost of living is playing the social security card, deal me in. if talking about the social security solvency and trying to fin

mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: mr. president, i, too, rise in support of the commerce, justice, science appropriations bill. as my colleague, the chair of the subcommittee, the gentleman from alabama, senator shelby, said, the c.j.s. bill does provide $56.3 billion to fund the department of commerce in its many -- and its many agencies. the justice department, the national science foundation, and the national aeronautics and space administration. it meets the bipartisan budget act of 2015, by every account is pretty much at the level we funded last year. it is a bipartisan bill. it is free from poison pill riders, and it was reported 30-0 from the committee. i support the underlying bill and look forward to moving it through the senate. when i left, what a difference a few days make. when i left the senate on thursday to return to maryland to be with my constituents, i was so excited about bringing -- joining with senator shelby to bring the commerce, justice, science appropriations bill to the floor. i was excited abo

mikulski: mr.nt, i rise to speak on behalf of the inhofe-mikulski amendment to the national defense authorization act, but before i proceed in my remarks, i ask unanimous consent that jessica armstrong, my legislative fellow from the department of defense, be allowed floor privileges during the consideration of the defense authorization bill. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. mikulski: thank you, mr. president. so, mr. president, i rise today to offer

yeast because it is amazing when restarted there were not very many political donors am barbara mikulski used to laugh to say i would do anything to get money i had to do polling in barbeques five for $10 but that was it and we had to show weakness in it is okay for the politicians they wanted to support until them what is going on in the campaign so they have a lot of confidence and over the years we have turned emily's list into a powerful financial resources 90 percent of the money comes from women. >> described in detail how you recruit women to be donors how does the process work? speesix essentially reinvented political fund-raising in the '80s everybody got their money from the pacs and they're still a huge force with legislative agenda is that they support incumbents illegally can only give up to $5,000 we said that will not work we have to give more to give them credibility and our members are smart people so instead of just contributing why do we raise the money? so in the early days i would say we would like to be a member of emily's list to pay $100 for two years and we will

mikulski: mr. president, i rise to speak on behalf of the inhofe-mikulski amendment to the national defense authorization act, but before i proceed in my remarks, i ask unanimous consent that jessica armstrong, my legislative fellow from the department of defense, be allowed floor privileges during the consideration of the defense authorization bill. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. mikulski: thank you, mr. president. so, mr. president, i rise today to offer a -- today to offer a bipartisan inhofe-mikulski amendment to the national defense authorization act. what does our amendment do? it stops the privatization of commissaries which are an earned, earned benefit for our military and their families. every year when the senate debates this bill, we talk about how we love our troops and how we always want to support our military families, but if we really love our troops, we need to make sure that our troops have the support that they need. one of the earned benefits that does that is th

all men except barb, barbara mikulski. i don't think she was -- she was there. the only one.knock on the door and they peek out a woman. hi. hi, we say. where seven women from the house democratic women. we want to come in and speak with the senators. at the minimum, senator mitchell. zero no she said. why? we don't let strangers in the senate. i wrote another book called strangers in the senate a long time ago. this is what he's talking about? we are not strangers. between us we have well over 100 years of its. we just want to talk to the senators. well, don't take offense she says she is she says. that's just a term of ours. anyone who's not a senators call a stranger. i've never heard that. be that as it may that's not what she said. i reached to the back of my mind. how are we going to get a meeting? i said you know, that is all well and good. but if we turn back and walked down the stairs now, there is a bank of cameras down there and we are going to tell them that we weren't able to see anybody. she said just a minute. she goes back and says okay, go in the side room an

mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: mr. president, i rise today in support of the bipartisan compromise amendment drafted by the gentlelady from maine, senator collins. and i say it's a good first step, and i say it's even more than that; that it is a significant step forward in gun control and violence control. now, i can assure you, from those of us who want to control violence, this in no way will impinge against second amendment rights. but we do want to curb violence in our country, which is at an epidemic level. and i want to compliment senator collins, and i want to compliment the people who jumped in to help work with her to fashion a compromise the gentlelady is known for her ability to put together a coalition to come up with the best ideas to find common ground. but we're doing something more here than finding common ground. we're trying to find higher ground. we're trying to get against the muck and mire that goes on in this instituti

me extend myy: let thanks to chairman shelby and ranking member mikulski for putting together a truly bipartisan bill. i am honored to be a member of the appropriations committee. this was a difficult bill to put together but they did very good work in the subcommittee to make this a product both sides could support. i thank them for allowing me to be part of that process. second, let me acknowledge the remarks that senator mikulski who noted that in many ways the world and the country has changed since this bill was scheduled to come to the floor. our heartbreaks collectively in this country for the citizens of orlando and as i'll speak in a moment, in particular in connecticut. our heartbreaks for the people of orlando because we know in a very real way the pain that exists there today but we also know how that pain is really never ending, how the ripples of that pain are unceasing and unrelenting and they span generations. they span neighborhoods. they span years. newtown is still putting itself back together, probably will be for a long time and orlando the same. and so our heartb

mikulski: would the gentlelady yield. the presiding officer: i would yield to the gentlelady. ms. mikulski: first of all, joining you as a social worker, my question is the general dal lady from minnesota with her vast experience as an attorney general as well as her ad advocy here in the senate -- the presiding officer: the question must be directed toward the senator from connecticut. ms. mikulski: to the senator from connecticut, that the most -- most of the victims of guns in a domestic violence are law enforcement officials responding to the aid of domestic violence victim. in my own state there have been wonderful men in blue that came to a home to rescue someone who was being held or something by their spouse often off their meds that when the police officer responded because it was domestic violence, not responding as if it were an act of -- active scene was also killed, has that been your observation? mr. murphy: i thank the senator, the ranking member of the appropriations committee for the question. that certainly is a big part of this story line, this toxic mixture of

from florida -- i mean, mikulski from maryland. of course, bill nelson cares about this. i got "florida" because his state is being hit more than any other staivment but senator mikulski has worked hard on appropriations bills. we know how much she wanted it passed. but she doesn't want it with this awful stuff that they've tried to do with planned parenthood, the clean water act, veterans funding, all of this other craziness, including the confederate flag. it is hard to describe. i said here this morning when the senate was opened, i've been here a long time. i don't ever remember anything as outrageous, as shameful as this piece of legislation. and, believe me, in the last seven and a half years, the republicans have come up with a lot. but this is the worst. the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i'll tell you what shameful is. that's allowing more women of child-bearing age to contract the zika virus so their babies can end up looking like this. t. that's shameful. make no mistake about it. our

and i've introduced an amendment with my colleagues, senator mikulski of maryland, and senator hirono of hawaii, to increase funding, to strengthen the prevention of hate crimes, and then the enforcement of our hate crimes laws and our civil rights laws. the amendment is now cosponsored by 18 other members of the united states senate. i think it's really important to understand what a hate crime is. a hate crime is a crime, first off, that has to be an underlying criminal act so it's not about hate thought or hate speech. it's been a crime wherein the victim of the crime or victims of the crime are targeted based on a particular characteristic. sometimes we hear about hate crimes committed against the lgbt community based on sexual orientation or gender identity, but hate crimes are often perpetrated against people on the basis of religion or race or ethnicity or gender. hate crimes targeted against people based on their characterization or their characteristics are done so because not only are the victims victimized but it sends a message of terror and hate through a community, throu

among the lawmakers pushing it maryland's retiring senator barbara mikulski. >> so while everyone wants to offer condolences, we also want to offer solutions. >> the filibuster was led by chris murphy, who is furnishing for a no fly no buy bill blocking gun sales to individuals named on the government's "no fly" list. >>> we have an update on results from campaign 2016 here in the nation's capital. last night, hillary clinton won big in the presidential primary. locally, voters choose to reprays three sitting d.c. council members. in the at large raisin couple bent vincent orange to lost to robert white. he never held elected office. another newcomer will represent ward 8, white, who won over may. but in ward 7, he is no newcomer. former mayor vince gray won over yvette alexander. senator gray should be in our studios tonight. we are going to sit down with him, that's the plan, 101, a bit later in this broadcast. >>> a follow-up to a breaking story you saw here last night at 7:00. virginia police hunting for a group of heroes. they saw a tour bus flipped on its side on the gw parkway wi

those are the elements of the amendment that senator mikulski and i filed yesterday. in contrast, republicans are proposing to reduce independent oversight of f.b.i. investigations and to make permanent a law that as of last year never even been used. the mccain amendment would eliminate the requirement for a court order when the f.b.i. wants to obtain detailed information about americans' internet activities, the national security investigations. you can almost hear j. edgar hoover, who loved being able to spy on any american he didn't like, say why didn't i have that when i was the head of the f.b.i.? the republican law could cover web sites americans have visited, extensive information who americans communicate with through e-mail, chat and text messages, and when and where americans log on to the internet or on to social media accounts. over time this information would provide highly revealing details about america's personal lives, americans who are totally innocent of any kind of criminal activity. and you get all this without prior court approval. it's why the

house floor tweeting their photos including eleanor edwards, chris van hollen and senators barbara mikulski and tim kaine. using the harsh tag no bill, no break which is the top trend on twitter. this story getting a lot of attention on the wusa9 facebook page. eric wrote, i don't care what the issue happens to be. what a bunch of babies. any of our founding fathers would have kicked them right out of the chambers and into the street for such behavior, inexcusable. and angie writes, republicans never worked together for the common good. it's their way or the highway. they never give an inch or budge. strict background checks is the way. and then richard writes that is why nothing ever gets done there, all talk and no action. we welcome you to join the conversation on wusa9 facebook page. >>> homeland security agents tonight suggesting one of their own intelligence analysts may have been planning to assassinate top leaders inside dhs's secure facility on nebraska avenue. he allegedly had camera, handcuffs, two way radios, a knife and pepper spray. they did let him continue to his office insi

these are clips from march 24, 2010, senator barbara mikulski speaking in favor, senator tom coburn who has left the senate now and a doctor speaking against the affordable care act. [video clip] >> but where i am also very excited and honored is because the role i played in making sure that we ended the punitive practices of insurance companies towards women. for too long, in too many ways, they treated simply being a woman as a pre-existing condition. so first of all, they charged us 30% to 40% more just to simply get insurance. then they would have the punitive practices of denying us health insurance for a pre-existing condition. in eight states, domestic violence was viewed as a pre-existing condition. you talk about being abused, you were abused by her husband, then you were abused by your insurance company. well, we are not going to be battered anymore by these companies. >> this is undoubtedly the greatest assault on liberty this country has ever had. and it is not direct. it is indirect. but it is what the senate from new hampshire talked about. if we are going to decide for yo

from florida -- i mean, mikulski from maryland. of course, bill nelson cares about this. i got "florida" because his state is being hit more than any other staivment but senator mikulski has worked hard on appropriations bills. we know how much she wanted it passed. but she doesn't want it with this awful stuff that they've tried to do with planned parenthood, the clean water act, veterans funding, all of this other craziness, including the confederate flag. it is hard to describe. i said here this morning when the senate was opened, i've been here a long time. i don't ever remember anything as outrageous, as shameful as this piece of legislation. and, believe me, in the last seven and a half years, the republicans have come up with a lot. but this is the worst. the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i'll tell you what shameful is. that's allowing more women of child-bearing age to contract the zika virus so their babies can end up looking like this. t. that's shameful. make no mistake about it. our

mikulski: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: madam president, i rise as an enthusiastic supporter of the murray amendment requiring the eeoc to implement the change recommended by president obama to -- that would add compensation data to its employment data form and also to provide it with $1 million to be able to pay for its implementation. first, i would like to salute the gentlelady from washington state who has been a long-standing and assertive advocate of equal pay for equal work for women. i thank her for her ongoing persistent advocacy, and i so admire this amendment which insists that we develop even better tools to pinpoint those 100 major companies on terms of their pay. the gentlelady from washington state was right there when we passed the bullet ter bill. -- the lily lead better bill. she has been there when we tried to move to the next step on paycheck fairness. today she's here to implement the eeoc rule that would also help again to do the kind of work we need to do to ensure the civil rights act of 19

in response, senator reed of rhode island, senator mikulski of maryland, they've offered an amendmentwould add security and other funding here in america to maintain the parity to which both parties agreed in the budget law passed last year. our amendment would increase funding to combat zika. by the way, we had a briefing yesterday by the head of the centers for disease control, the man that is in charge at n.i.h., this terrible thing that's sweeping this part of the world where they told us they are desperate for money, desperate for money to do their research to prepare vaccines. it would also our amendment increase money for local police to fight the opioid scourge, to improve our infrastructure around the country, and to do something about the money that has never been provided to take care of the devastation that hit flint, michigan, with the lead in the water. the security of our great country depends on more than bombs and bullets. i support the military. i have my entire career. i know how gallantly they fight, and my welcome to washington today, there was a young cadet there

i do want to echo his really spirit and the deference he gave to senator barbara mikulski and senator shelby. both of these two senators are people i respect a tremendous amount. in fact, i would go beyond that with senator sheb and senator mikulski because i have a deep affection for them both. they are great, strong legislators, and they have produced legislation that is important to this country. i have a reverence for their work, the attention to detail and the focus they have done preparing legislation to move forward, and i ask for indulgence from them to understand why i stand on the floor today preparing to ask a question to senator murphy. senator murphy and i last night talked about the tragedy of what happened in florida. it was painful to both of us because we knew that this was not in any way an anomaly, that this was something happening with terrible, savage routine, that in this nation we are seeing mass killing after mass killing after mass killing after mass killing, and we both understood that our nation right now, as with other of our colleagues, stands at a point o

senator barbara mikulski is leaving the senate after 30 years. both supporters and opponents of the affordable care act described it as the largest domestic legislation sense the civil rights era of the johnson legislation. what goes into considering legislation this momentous? mr. frumin: the issue that swirled around health care was whether or not it could be filibustered or whether it derived a fast-track. there are expedited procedures provided under a number of different statues, the most notable the budget act which provides for a process called reconciliation and reconciliation bills cannot be filibustered. there has always been a push on proponents of major legislation to see if they cannot shoehorn it into a reconciliation bill that cannot be filibustered. our limitary in office pushes back against that impetus, going back into the early 90's. from a procedural standpoint, we advise the leadership on both sides of the aisle that a measure of this comprehensive nature was not appropriate for the reconciliation fast-track process and that

and i've introduced an amendment with my colleagues, senator mikulski of maryland, and senator hirono of hawaii, to increase funding, to strengthen the prevention of hate crimes, and then the enforcement of our hate crimes laws and our civil rights laws. the amendment is now cosponsored by 18 other members of the united states senate. i think it's really important to understand what a hate crime is. a hate crime is a crime, first off, that has to be an underlying criminal act so it's not about hate thought or hate speech. it's been a crime wherein the victim of the crime or victims of the crime are targeted based on a particular characteristic. sometimes we hear about hate crimes committed against the lgbt community based on sexual orientation or gender identity, but hate crimes are often perpetrated against people on the basis of religion or race or ethnicity or gender. hate crimes targeted against people based on their characterization or their characteristics are done so because not only are the victims victimized but it sends a message of terror and hate through a community, throu

the democratic senators, barbara mikulski and tim kaine have joined the house members on the floor. many of whom have been giving speeches about how the gun violence impacted the community back home. >> now in the time to get in the way, the time to act is now. we will be silent no more. >> conspiracy of silence against tackling gun violence. we are not silent anymore. we are not bystanders anymore. that is what last week was about in the senate and today is about in the house. jeff: house republicans have no appetite to appease the democrats. not only calling the house to recess but many republicans say they have no interest in holding vote on the gun control legislation bills. the democra about. we are in the sixth hour of the sit-in. no signs at any point it will be stopping anytime soon. live on capitol hill, jeff goldberg, abc7 news. leon: all right. thank you, jeff. see what plays out there. in the meantime we are following breaking news from arlington where the police closed down washington boulevard at second road south of route 50 near the gate at fort meyer if you know the

appropriationappropriations apps committee, barbara mikulski.the reed amendment, the mikulski amendment would provide the same extra support for the middle class that senator mccain is demanding for the pentagon. and it recognizes that our security depends on more than just the defense department. the reed amendment has in our funding to fight the zika virus and would also fight the lead in flint, michigan. this amendment strengthens domestic security through the department of homeland security and will improve airport security and community policing and will address the threat of cybercrime and terrorism. the amendment of the senator from rhode island and the senator from maryland will create jobs and address our nation's crumbling infrastructure. it will improve not only our transportation system but medical facilities for our veterans and our national park system. but the reed amendment is also an investment in our future. the legislation will promote science and innovation through support for the national institutes of health, national scien

times in politics, some of us who came in on your shoulders, on your 5-foot shoulders and barbara mikulski's as well, we talk about when you came in it was so much harder. i think for young people to read your story and understand what you went through, that was a time when most women were only expected to have a few job and that was secretary, teacher, nurse and that was it. in. in fact, you went over meeting stu, your husband who use been married to, in my mind, forever but you say this is one of my favorite quotes from the book, you say i often joke that stu married debbie reynolds and woke up with meyer. remember when we met. >> remember, girls, young women didn't have the kind of opportunities we now have today and that our daughters have today. i know you have a great one and i hope she's watching. so we had to settle for a lot less. wednesday met me, i was pursuing my dream of being an economics major. he knew that. he saw who you had. you got together for little parties. the men would be here talking about issues of the day and the women, just do not be perceived as uppity would be h

they democrats including barbara mikulski of maryland and tim kaine of virginia. here now that the sit-in began forcing house republicans to gavel the house out of session. >> the chair would ask members to please leave the well so the house may proceed with business and decorum. to clause 12a of rule one the house stands in recess subject to the call of the chair. jeff: certainly a chaotic scene inside the house. certainly unexpected when this all began at 11:30 this morning. 60 house democrats sitting down on the house floor, purning for votes on gun control legislation. they have repeatedly been chanting "no bill, no break." many house members posting pictures on twitter and facebook with the same hashtag. the cameras have been shut down inside the chamber. house democrats are control bills including legislation to prevent suspected terrorists from buying firearms, expanded background checks. some calling for vote eson assault weapons ban. many democrats are speaking in the chamber in the sit-in about the impact of gun violence in the home districts and calling

i would say that americans want more elected officials like senator barbara mikulski, who of publict champion funding and of enacting private sector incentives. she will be missed. we do hope that many new champions will be elected this season. our surveys further tell us that 77% of americans say it is important for the next president and next congress two & a high priority to putting health research innovation to work to ensure continued medical progress. robustis means is funding for the national institutes of health, the world's largest funder of the basic or discovery research and an institution that also funds clinical and prevention and transitional research around the country, as well as in the headquarter campus in bethesda, maryland. it tackles every disease and disability you can think of. in addition, the critical and underlying basic discovery science that can read and directions we cannot predict in advance. amazes most people to hear that the nih works to achieve the public's understandably high expectations for less than $100 per american, per year. 15% to 16%only bon

chairman shelby and ranking member mikulski worked diligently to advance this bill out of committee and bring it to the floor. members should work with these bill managers if they have ideas they think would make the bill stronger. i mentioned some of them already. we've made important progress on appropriations bills so far this year. we can continue that progress this week and take further steps to keep our country safe from terrorism. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. reid: throughout history in times of crisis and tragedy, the american people look to leaders for one thing -- leadership. americans don't want to hear excuses. we don't want to hear self-congratulations. we don't want to hear scapegoating. it's a very simple concept: we want our leaders to lead. in the aftermath of sunday's shooting at the pulse nightclub in orlando, florida, a place of celebration for the lgbt community, donald trump proved that he is a terrible leader, as he is a terrible businessman. trump proved he is not the person to lead our nation through difficult times, or in fact any time. tru

barbara mikulski is adding resources to the fbi as part of the package that we need, sensible background lists and don't let people on the terror watch list to purchase weapons and let's get some resources to the fbi so they can do their jobs. >> what are you more concerned about right now, a mass shooting or a terrorist attack or both? >> i think you always have to be on the lookout for both. we know we have seen these mass shootings, and you've pointed out various motivations and one size doesn't fit all when it comes to the solutions. part of of this is dismantling terrorist groups like isis and al shabab, where they are and also stopping them at home. we've just had three convictions just last week in minnesota in federal court for people that were trying to join isis so we're well aware of the need to go after these kinds of cases and to work with the muslim community. the muslim community is a really important part of our community in minnesota. we have the biggest somali community. we're proud of that. they work with us on these kinds of cases and in these kinds of investigations,

i remember barbara mikulski saying to you at the time, you talk about the art of the tough, you are giving and she told you a lot of women are looking out their window for prince charming and i'm looking for more women senators. don't you love her. she said it's not about gender it's in about agenda. she'd say it's not about macro economics it's about macaroni and cheese economics. i wasn't always easy. there was the house banking scandal that you had nothing to do with it. there was this investigation of every member that had their money there. they were trying to use that against you. >> at one point you decided i don't know if i want to keep running. then stu came was a great family story. >> yes. all tell it quickly. the house bank scandal, to to make it brief, this is what it was. the house bank wasn't really a bank. it didn't operate like a bank. in other words when you put your check in its hook them days before they credit it. i didn't know that. they never told us that. so i wrote a rent check and paid for my mother's medicine or whatever i was doing and two weeks later everything

mccloskey, capito, cochran, blunt, graham, tester, murray, reed, udall, schatz, baldwin, murphy, mikulski and leahy. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk for s. 2943. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: cloture motion. we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on calendar number 469, s. 2943, a bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2017 for military activities of the department of defense for military construction and for defense activities of the department of energy to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year and for other purposes, signed pie 17 -- by 17 senators as follows. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the reading of the names be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent to waive the mandatory quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcco

chairman shelby and ranking member mikulski worked diligently to advance this bill out of committee and bring it to the floor. members should work with these bill managers if they have ideas they think would make the bill stronger. i mentioned some of them already. we've made important progress on appropriations bills so far this year. we can continue that progress this week and take further steps to keep our country safe from terrorism. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. reid: throughout history in times of crisis and tragedy, the american people look to leaders for one thing -- leadership. americans don't want to hear excuses. we don't want to hear self-congratulations. we don't want to hear scapegoating. it's a very simple concept: we want our leaders to lead. in the aftermath of sunday's shooting at the pulse nightclub in orlando, florida, a place of celebration for the lgbt community, donald trump proved that he is a terrible leader, as he is a terrible businessman. trump proved he is not the person to lead our nation through difficult times, or in fact any time. tru

these are clips from march 26, .010, senator barbara mikulski senator coburn, who has left the senatea doctor speaking against the affordable care act. >> i am honored because the role that i play in making sure that the punitive practices of insurance companies towards women. for too long, and in too many ways, they treated simply being a woman as a pre-existing condition. first of all, they church -- they charge us 30% to 40% more simply to get insurance. then they would have the punitive practices of denying us health insurance for a pre-existing condition. in eight states, domestic as ance was viewed pre-existing condition. you talk about being abuse? husband,bused by her and then your insurance company. we are not going to be battered anymore by these companies. >> this is the greatest assault on liberty this country has ever had. this country has ever had. it's not the government will be in charge of everybody's health care. process, to watch it from soup to nuts, essentially. few things happen very quickly in the institution. --n there is some big event or a senator mcconnell s

and then i hope, and i think senator mikulski talked about in her hoping comment, we can also talk about giving the broader resources to fbi and to law enforcement to do the job that they do. we ask them to do more and more, but we don't give them the resources that are necessary. so if we're going to give them additional responsibilities, keeping a better-monitored, consolidate canned database -- consolidated database, having a process for individualings to aggrieve their inclusion on it, then we have to make sure they have the resources necessary. the gentleman from new jersey, i'd yield for a question without losing my right to the floor. >> so i appreciate, again, this point i want to keep coming back to which is that we are in, both republicans and democrats talk about us being in a war with the determination to defeat our enemy. and yet our enemy has spoken very clearly about exploiting the loopholes that exist in the way for those who are seeking to do terror to buy end withs. -- weapons. in other words, someone who's even suspected already by the fbi, suspected by the american go

those are the elements of thehe amendments that senators mikulski, baldwin and nelson and in in contrast republicans proposing to reduce independent oversight of i fbi investigatios and to make permanent a law that last year never even been used.t mccain amendment would eliminate the requirement for a court order when the fbi wants to obtain detailed information about americans internet activities in national security investigations. could almost hear j. edgar hoover, who loved being didn't like, say, why didn't i have that when i was the head of the fbi? the republican law could cover e websites americans have visitede extensive information on who americans communicate with through email, chat and text messages. and where and when americans log on to the internet or into social media accounts. over time, this information would provide highly revealing details about americans personal lives, americans who are totally innocent of any kind of criminat activity. you get all this without prior court approval.'s w that is why the amendment is opposed by major technology companies. . .roups th

mikulski: thank you very much, mr. president. we're now debating the commerce, justice, science appropriations bill. i'm the vice chair of that subcommittee, and i just wanted to make our people aware that the pending bill funds the department of commerce which hopefully works to create jobs in our country, the justice department, the national science foundation, the space agency, all related to how do we build a strong economy and how do we protect our people. and it's a bill that i have worked on not only all year but as someone who has worked on this bill for over -- close to 30 years. this bill, this subcommittee bill when it moves will be my final subcommittee that i will have been in a major chairmanship, vice chairmanship role. so people would think gee, senator barb wants to move this bill along and i sure do. i've worked hands on with my colleague, the senator from alabama, senator shelby. we have a good bill. we have a bill that i will continue to advocate but people would say, well, then, barb, why would you support a

have had a woman that his work so hard whenil of the free beer senators ever to serve senator any mikulski from maryland. his state has been hit harder than any other but working harder and appropriation bill we know a how much she wants it passedding with little of the awful stuff they have tried to do with veterans' funding it is hard to describe and i said this morning i have been here a long time i don't ever remember as shameful as this legislation the last seven and a half years that this is the worst. >> the republican whip. >>. >> mr. president wasas shameful is, allowing more women of child-bearing age contract the zika virus so babies can end up looking like this. that is shameful. filib make no mistake about it. our colleagues across the aisle have filibustered on a partisan basis a bipartisan bill funded the anti-gay zika virus efforts also including measures so we need to be absolutely clear the democratic leader basically said because his party is a sore loser in a conference report they don't love they will block funding to prevent more babies from contracting the birth defe