mr. alexander: mr. president i would say to the senator from vermont through the chair the answer is yes. mr. leahy: then, mr. president under those circumstances i will not object. mr. alexander: i thank the senator from vermont. mr. president, i have sent to the desk an amendment entitled the stop sexual abuse act by school personnel the stop sexual abuse by school personnel act of 2015. it's sponsored by me and by senator kirk, the senator from illinois. in summary what deposited does -- the amendment does is the following. number one it requires the states to have a criminal background check for all school employees. helps them do it, enables them to do it, authorizes funding for them to do it, but it doesn't dictate to them how to do it. it allows states and local school districts to use federal funding authorized under the elementary and secondary education act to establish implement or improve policies and procedures on background checks for school employees. including the following provide state

mr. alexander: thank you mr. president.he floor today to discuss the congressional review act resolution that senator mcconnell the republican leader, senator enzi, the senator from wyoming and i have filed to stop a new national labor relations board rule. last december, the national labor relations board issued a final rule that shortened the time between when pro-union organizers asked an employer for a secret ballot election and when that election actually takes place. i refer to this as the ambush election rule, because it forces a union election before an employer has the time to figure out what's going on. even worse it jeopardizes employees' privacy by requiring employers to turn over employees' personal information including email addresses phone numbers, shift hours and locations to union organizers. mr. president, this action of the labor relations board which increasingly has become a union advocate instead of an umpire disputes between -- between employees and employers it's attracted enormous attention across

mr. alexander chech november nov, has quoted these saxons arrived without any armament. we will mount arms. we should provide cover for the national guard or other units to which they would be supplied. surely the british government was aware that that was the intention of the ukrainian defense ministry. >> no. the government was not aware when the original license was granted. we're clearly aware now because the ukrainians have said publicly that they intend to mount weapons on these vehicles. but this would be no different from supplying land rovers and then discovering that they intended to mount machine guns on the roofs of the land rovers. the assessment was made that supplying the vehicles would not increase the offensive capacity of the ukrainian army nor would it alter the balance of military force in the conflict in eastern ukraine. that is the relevant criteria against which we have to judge this export. so the position is that the export of these vehicles without any weaponry on them is licensed and will be permitted to go ahead. >> but the crucial point, form

mr. alexander, thank you for being with us. >>> the changing landscape of india is putting some of the country'sful creatures at risk. the wonderless bill weir will be with us next to talk about what's being done to try to save them. okay, listen up! i'm re-workin' the menu. mayo? corn dogs? you are so outta here! aah! [ female announcer ] the complete balanced nutrition of great-tasting ensure. 24 vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and 9 grams of protein. [ bottle ] ensure®. nutrition in charge™. >>> the change throughout india could be threatening many of that country's national treasures, especially the tiger, which is quickly disappearing. >> on a brand new episode of "the wonder list" bill weir tries to see how to save tigers before they're gone. >> punam and harsh have another idea. convince farmers to quit farming, let the land go wild and live off the ecotourists who they hope will come in droves. >> so is your vision that all this area will be forest instead of farms? >> yes. happier people, people who look at the tiger as their own. and the next time the poacher comes here and he's g

mr. cedric alexander.u. >>> switching to vanuatu, and aid worker have their work cut out for them. the full extent of the damage is still not clear. let's turn now alice clements communications officer with unicef. she joins us now via skype -- over the phone i should say in vanuatu. thank you very much for taking time to join us. you and i have been talking for the last several days. we heard you going through the storm. we hear you after the storm. talk to us about the situation there on the ground now. >> absolutely. there's promising sign right. yesterday the military aid -- started to make it through to the airport which had been previously closed because of damage to the airport and closed due to incredibly high winds that were lingering after cyclone pam passed through. so it's great to at least some relief groups getting through things with critical medical supplies and emergency relief items. including some medics from the australian government. to with the number of humanitarian worker arriving w

mr. alexander chech november nov, has quoted these saxons arrived without any armament. we will mount arms. we should provide cover for the national guard or other units to which they would be supplied. surely the british government was aware that that was the intention of the ukrainian defense ministry. >> no. the government was not aware when the original license was granted. we're clearly aware now because the ukrainians have said publicly that they intend to mount weapons on these vehicles. but this would be no different from supplying land rovers and then discovering that they intended to mount machine guns on the roofs of the land rovers. the assessment was made that supplying the vehicles would not increase the offensive capacity of the ukrainian army nor would it alter the balance of military force in the conflict in eastern ukraine. that is the relevant criteria against which we have to judge this export. so the position is that the sed and will be permitted to go ahead. >> but the crucial point, former secretary, in terms of the government's policy, mounting we

mr. alexander tesch knee yov has stated publicly, these saxons have arrived without any armament. surely the british government was aware that that was the intention of the ukrainian defense ministry. >> no, the government was not aware when the original license was granted. we're clearly aware now. but this would be no different for supplying land rovers and discovering that they intended to mount machine guns on the roofs of the land rovers. the assessment was made that supplying the vehicles would not increase the offensive capacity of the ukrainian army. that is the relevant criteria against which we have to judge this export. so the position is that the export of these vehicles without any weaponry on them is licensed and will be permitted to go ahead. >> the crucial point in terms of the government's policy that mounting a weapon on them turns them from being nonlethal to being lethal. >> no, i think -- >> sorry can i just continue? is it not a matter of genuine concern to you and should it not be that the foreign office and the british government are clearly so ill informed

mr. president. >> president. >> defined by accomplishments not her disability. peter alexander, nbc news, the white house. >>> and that is nbc "nightly news" for this sunday. lester holt will be here tomorrow. i'm carl quintanilla reporting from new york. from all of us here at nbc news, good night. >>> good evening. i'm vickie nguyen. >>> we are following break news. a major earthquake has triggered a tsunami warning. that a is in effect within 620 miles of the earthquake epicenter. new guinea and islands are most at risk. western hawaii islands could see effects from this quake. we'll have updates as they happen. let's bring in our meteorologist rob with

mr. president. >> defined by her accomplishments not her disability. peter alexander >> and that is nbc nightly news for this sunday. lester holt will be here tomorrow. i'm carl reporting from new york. from all of us here at nbc news, good night. daly: last night the knockouts began. blake: this is where they really have to step up. i just want the best team i can possibly have. ♪ you and i collide ♪ daly: the best of the best faced off... gracious. ♪ you make me feel ♪ daly: ...for a spot in the live playoffs. ♪ like a natural woman ♪ whoo! daly: tonight, six more artists... hi. ...will hit the stage with songs they picked. what song you gonna be doing? "live like you were dying" by tim mcgraw. oh, man. "listen to your heart." "higher love," steve winwood. okay. this is a round where we get to see what they think of themselves as an artist. ♪ carry on ♪ daly: helping them all front man of the band fun. with over 20 million singles sold... ♪ may your past be the sound ♪ ...fresh off his solo hit "nothing without love"... ♪ of your feet upon the ground ♪ ...singer-son

mr. chairman. my colleagues and i welcome your questions. senator alexander: thank you dr. collins. dr. hamburg? dr. hamburg: thank you, mr. chairman, and members of the committee. i'm very pleased to be here today to discuss our shared goal of speeding innovative treatment to patients. i look forward to working with you on this important effort. as you have noted, this will be my last appearance before the committee, as i'm stepping down. but i want to thank you for your support over the years, and our constructive engagement with this committee to advance fda's public health mission. i came to the agency at a time of considerable uncertainty and change in the biomedical product industry, a time when dramatic advances in science and technology, some that my colleague dr. collins just outlined, demanded new models, and approaches. in turn, we took a very serious look at our role in advancing biomedical product innovation to ensure that we would be a gateway, not a barrier, to the delivery of better, safer, and more effective treatments and cures. and, in fact, this has been a high priority for me

mr. chairman. my colleagues and i welcome your questions. senator alexander: thank you dr. collins. dr. hamburg? dr. hamburg: thank you, mr. chairman, and members of the committee. i'm very pleased to be here today to discuss our shared goal of speeding innovative treatment to patients. i look forward to working with you on this important effort. as you have noted, this will be my last appearance before the committee, as i'm stepping down. but i want to thank you for your support over the years, and our constructive engagement with this committee to advance fda's public health mission. i came to the agency at a time of considerable uncertainty and change in the biomedical product industry, a time when dramatic advances in science and technology, some that my colleague dr. collins just outlined, demanded new models, and approaches. in turn, we took a very serious look at our role in advancing biomedical product innovation to ensure that we would be a gateway, not a barrier, to the delivery of better, safer, and more effective treatments and cures. and, in fact, this has been a high priority for me

alexander. >> the first question for mr. brian. you had alluded -- you didn't allude, you pretty much stated that some of your tribal officers who patrol tribal territories, you had mentioned sometimes they are mistaken as police officers or accused of impersonating police officers, if you will. could you speak more to that as to what you mean very specifically, and also what recommendations do you offer for that? secondly, my next question is for mr. canterbury. you made mention to the fact, and i think the last time you was with us you made mention to the fact as well, too, that community policing is very important, which i'm quite sure you agree with. but high call volumes and lessened police officers being hired today are you suggesting or recommending that there need to be more funding to hire more officers across the country? if you would start, mr. bryant, i would appreciate it. >> thank you. what i'm referring to in many instances across the country, tribal law enforcement receives their training through the indian police a

mr. abreu bumped him and was trying him. >> court documents identified the friend with hernandez that night as alexander bradley.who says hernandez later shot out his right eye because the football player felt disrespected during an argument over a cell phone. all leading to a key question, do those two violent acts suggest a dangerous pattern of behavior, driven by paranoia? cnn has learned prosecutors believe that behavior is what led to odin lloyd's murder. at this club, two nights before lloyd is killed, prosecutors say hernandez gets angry when he sees lloyd talking with a group of friends. >> motive does not have to be proven under the law. >> jerry leoni is a former massachusetts district attorney and federal prosecutor. >> juries like motive. juries want to know why someone did something. especially when they've done something that's alleged to have been as heinous as this one. >> the defendant was the one -- >> a motive, no matter how trivial, would make the state's case stronger. prosecutors have already bolstered the case by upgrading the charges against the two men who were with hernandez the night o

mr. cedric look, thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. >> we appreciate cedric alexander joining us there on set. >>> we are a day away from israeli elections, and it looks like it is going to be a very tight race. we'll have the latest on the big vote including the prime minister's effort to rally support for his party. stay with us. [ male announcer ] you wouldn't leave your car unprotected. but a lot of us leave our identities unprotected. nearly half a million cars were stolen in 2012, but for every car stolen 34 people had their identities stolen. identity thieves can steal your money, damage your credit and wreak havoc on your life. why risk it when you can help protect yourself from identity theft with one call to lifelock, the leader in identity-theft protection? lifelock actively patrols your sensitive, personal information every second of every day, helping to guard your social security number, your bank accounts and credit, even the equity in your home -- your valuable personal assets. look. your bank may alert you to suspicious activity on your credit or debit card. but that still may leave you vu

mr. de abreu had deliberately bumped him and was, quote, trying him. >> court documents identify the friend with hernandez that night as alexander bradley, the same alexanderey who says hernandez later shot out his right eye, because the football player felt disrespected during an argument over a cell phone. all leading to a key question, do those two violent acts suggest a dangerous pattern of behavior driven by paranoia? cnn has learned prosecutors believe that behavior is what led to odin lloyd's murder. a source with knowledge of the investigation says the night they were at this club, hernandez gets angry when he sees lloyd talking with two men. and angry again later at an apartment he rents. it's unclear whether there was another tipping point. possibly, prosecutors say, hernandez was mad at himself for telling lloyd about the double murder. >> motive does not have to be proven under the law. >> jared leoni is a former massachusetts district attorney and federal prosecutor. >> juries like motive, they want to know why someone did something, especially when they've done something that's alleged to have been as heinous as this one. >> a motive, no matt

mr. president. >> one more time. >> hello. >> mister. >> mister. >> president. >> defined by her accomplishments, not her disability. >> that is peter alexander reporting, an amazing there. >> that was cool. >>> up next at 11:00 time for some spring cleaning. not your garage. the digital clutter that you might be overlooking. >> plus, the big changes designed to make the s.a.t. more fair and how one famous bay area entrepreneur is leveling the playing field for low income students. >> and we have stellar conditions on the way for your all-important weekend. but here's the thing. saturday it looks fantastic. by sunday could see a stray shower. we'll let you know if this pertained to your microclimate. only expecting that in some spots, which nbc bay area news at 11:00 comes right back. kris/2shot it's spring, which means high school juniors across the bay area are anxious. they're getting ready to take the s-a-t. high school juniors across the bay area are getting a little anxious. they're getting ready to take the s.a.t.s. >> brings back painful memories. a time honored tradition, a necessity for getting into college, but it's going to face a makeover. we're shown

consent to include following my remarks a summary of the alexander-kirk amendment and i yield the floor. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i have a unanimous consent request from the leaders. i ask unanimous consent that the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: thank you mr. president. mr. president, i ask consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: the senate is in morchlt morning business. mr. casey: thank you mr. president. i rise today to talk about the nomination that will be before the entire senate next week, the nomination of loretta lynch to be the attorney general of the united states of america and to urge all of my senate colleagues to quickly confirm united states attorney lynch to this position. loretta lynch has dedicated much of her life, many, many years of her life, to public service se

alexander. >> thank you. the first question is for mr. bryant.uch stated that some of your tribal officers who patrol tribal territories, you had mentioned sometimes they are mistaken as police officers or accused of impersonating police officers, if you will. could you speak more to that as to what you mean very specifically, and also what recommendations do you offer for that? secondly, my next question is for mr. canterbury. you made mention to the fact, and i think the last time you was with us you also made mention to the fact as well, g too, that community policing is very important, which i'm quite sure you agree with. but for the high call volumes and lessened police officers today being hired are you suggesting or recommending that there need to be more funding to hire more officers across the country? but if you would start, mr. bryant, i would appreciate it. >> thank you. what i'm referring to in many ]k instances across the country, tribal law enforcement receives their training through the indian police academy. that is not recognize

alexander reporting. now, the artist says he has not heard from the clintons since speaking out about the portrait. the president and mrsdid not respond to an nbc request for a comment. >> i think he's not going to get business out of commissions coming up. >> i don't know how that works, but maybe it was the national portrait gallery that commissioned it. so they're paying for it? >> somebody did. >> all right, let's check in with rob. his portrait hangs in the front lobby. it looks fabulous. >> we love it. >> right now, it's looking pretty nice. nice weather outside, but a little too much of a nice thing in the sierra. all the sunshine has kept the sierra snow totals well below where they should be for this time of year. storms have brought a lot of rain but not a lot of snow. that's the reason the central sierra, 20% of average, northern sierra 15%. on pace with the dry year last year. but a little different story thanks to all the rainfall for the bay area. the totals still close to 80% to over 100% of average, and the reservoirs have improved from last year, almost by 30% to 40 persh. a boost in the totals compared

alexander reporting. the artist says he has not heard from the clintons since speaking out about the portrait and president and mrs. clinton did not respond to an nbc request for a comment. >>> less than three months after the u.s. and cuba agree to restore diplomatic ties amazon may be laying the ground work for shipping items to the island nation. a ship to cuba button was seen on amazon monday by reuters reporters in havana but the option doesn't seem to work and they got an error message when they tried to order something and have it shipped to cuba. unclear how quickly amazon could start shipping stuff to cuba. jeff bezos has family ties his adopted father miguel was born there. and he came to the u.s. at the age of 15. >>> spring break is around the corner and if you're traveling, experts say to save money on your flight there is just one thing you need to do. leave on a tuesday. fare compare price tickets to orlando in february. they found traveling sunday to sunday would cost close to $500. while traveling tuesday to sunday would cost an average of 300 bucks. so while many consumers choose to fly weekend t

danny alexander of the liberal democrats calling for an additional 1 billion pounds bank levy. i suppose the question that comes to mind, is that reasonable politics or is it time, mrthe city to send a message stop whipping us. we're not here every time you want to cash a chip? >> that is a political policy question. as i said a moment ago, it is really a matter for the british people. my job is to run barclays under any scenario and make sure we deliver for or stake holders. the barclays we have built in the last 2 1/2 years has the tiblingt do that. >> before -- the ability to do that. >> six month s of decline. i'm worried myself. i don't know about everybody else. buyers are at a 30-year low. are you relieved to see that kind of bubble mentality? very briefly. >> yeah. i think obviously bubbles in markets are not good things. i think the authorities in particular, the bank of england and the p.r.a. acted propetly a couple of years back to address that. i think the housing markets though in the u.k. will gradually trend up as has been the trend in the past. >> mr. anthony jenkins, c.e.o. of barclays. great to have you with us this morning. mr. jenkins, c.e.o. of

mr. chairman, far going so far over my time. >> no that is fine. >> senator murray, do you have any concluding remarks? >> dr. hamburg well-stated. thank you to both of your testimonies. senator alexander i look forward to working with you on this. >> thank you, senator murray. dr. collins, just for the record if you know offhand the success has declined over 30 years. what about the absolute number of grants, has that gone down too? >> the absolute number of grants we fund versus those we receive it has been bouncing around, under 10,000. >> about 30 years ago it was what? >> i have to get you the number. >> i was trying to compare that with the success rate. >> of course the biomedical research community has grown in that timetable. >> right. >> i can get you specifics. would be interesting to see that. thanks to both of you. dr. hamburg, thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> it is very important that you were here and we thank you for your six years of service at fda. i hope you will accept our invitation to stay in touch with us over, especially over the next year as we work on these issues. dr. collins, we're going to stay, you will still be here. >> i am. >> we're going to s

help committee senator lamar alexander is very interested in, that would allow for year-round pell grants so that individuals could complete their education more quickly. mr. president, before i was elected to the senate, i worked at a college in maine hudson university in bangor maine and i saw firsthand the difference that pell grants made in the lives of these students, and indeed on my staff today, there are highly talented individuals who were able to go to college solely because of the existence of pell grants. their families did not have experience with higher education and have not afford higher education, and pell grants made possible a bright future for these two women on my staff. this is the kind of opportunity that should unite us and that all of us should rally behind, and allowing year-round pell grants would allow students to complete their education more quickly and join the work force more quickly which would help them financially as well. so i hope that this is something that we can pursue and that will be adopted as well. another of my bipartisan amendments number 442 would establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund to change the definit

with me and senator alexander and a number of other people and the businesses and employees in those businesses who don't think this regulation is necessary to disallow this regulation. mr. president, i -- senator thune suggested -- i want to make sure that i do this. i guess -- thank you. i ask unanimous consent that the time for the quorum call be equally divided. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. tillis: thank you. and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: ms. mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: good morning. what is the pending business before the senate? the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. ms. mikulski: i ask unanimous consent that the call of the quorum be vacated. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. mikulski: mr. president what is the pending order for the morning? the presiding officer: the senate is on s.j. res. 8 with divided time. ms. mikulski: thank you very much mr. president. well, this morning i rise along with the women of the senate to talk about the issue of human trafficking. we are f