mr. barrasso: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that ten minutes of this next period be reserved for senator cornyn to address the issue. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: thank you mr. president. then i would point out i'm going to be in buffalo wyoming on saturday at a health fair as a doctor. i continue to visit health fairnsd the state designed -- health fairs around the state who are designed to bring low cost health screenings and i know there are people there concerned about the fact that the c.b.o. said the premiums are going to go up 8% next year and 8% the year after that and some of them are going to be on the obamacare chair and i know some of them are people that had insurance that worked well for them before the president passed his law. and their insurance was canceled. so the president, the senator from connecticut may list them as successes but they don't believe it's that way. they had insurance. they had insurance that they liked. it worked for them, worked

mr. barrasso: thank you mr. president. mr. president, this amendment that was just called up and made pending deals with the regulation that the obama administration has proposed that would expand the clean water act. mr. president, the rule is an attempt to change the definition of what the law calls waters of the united states. the environmental protection agency and the army corps of engineers first proposed the rule last year and expect to have it finalized in the next few months. under this rule, the definitions of waters of the united states would include ditches would include dry areas where water flows only for a short period of time after it rains. federal regulations have never

mr. barrasso: thank you mr. president. mr. president, i would ask my friend and colleague from connecticut, we worked closely together on a number of items if a question or two relating to the fact that the c.b.o. report recently came out just monday, and mentioned that the benchmark policy next year is going to be up 8% across the board. the benchmark policy 8% higher premiums. and not just next year, but the year after that another 8%. and another 8%. and i just know as a senator representing people and as a doctor how many people in his state believe that that's actually a good deal. the president promised the people from his state that premiums would drop by $2,500 per person, per family. nancy pelosi, speaker of the house, my friend from connecticut was a member of the house at the time. she said premiums would drop for everyone. so we're talking about specifically people buying policies on the exchange and yet the numbers that came out monday that the president of the united states is celebrating. my friend and colleague

mr. barrasso, the senator from mississippi, mr. wicker, the senator from tennessee, mr. corker, the senator from illinois, mr. durbin, the senator from washington, miss bury, the senator from michigan, miss stabin now, the senator from new jersey, mr. menendez, the senator from connecticut, mr. murphy. the speaker: members of the escort committee will please exit through the chamber lobby doors. >> mr. speaker, the acting dean of the diplomatic corps. >> mr. speaker, the president's cabinet. the sergeant at arms: mr. speaker, the president of the islamic republic of afghanistan. the speaker: members of congress, i have the high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you his excellency mohammad ashraf ghani president of the islamic republic of afghanistan. president ghani: in the name of god the merciful and compassionate speaker boehner vice president biden, senate majority leader mcconnell, house majority leader mccarthy house minority leader ms. pelosi, senate minority leader, ladies and gentlemen of the congress, please allow me to thank you for your gracious i

mr. barrasso. the senate will be in order. the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: mr. president i rise in support of my amendment 347, an amendment to hold the e.p.a. and the amendment corps to their word about the scope of their proposed waters of the united states rule. the administration says that there's a lot of misunderstanding with their proposed waters of the u.s. regulation and what it covers. time and time again, we have heard from the e.p.a. and the corps that this rule would not cover things like puddles rain water, snow melt and irrigation ditches. the barrasso amendment would help to make sure this rule is crystal clear by listing out those things that the e.p.a. and the corps has indicated or led folks to believe will not be covered under the rule. so if you believe the waters of the u.s. rule doesn't go far enough, that the federal government should be in the business of regulating puddles in your constituents' back yards, then vote against my amendment, but that's what voting against my amendment would mean. that's why i urge a yes vote on this amendme

mr. barrasso: thank you mr. president. mr. president, this amendment that was just called up and made pending deals with the regulation that the obama administration has proposed that would expand the clean water act. mr. president, the rule is an attempt to change the definition of what the law calls waters of the united states. the environmental protection agency and the army corps of engineers first proposed the rule last year and expect to have it finalized in the next few months. under this rule, the definitions of waters of the united states would include ditches would include dry areas where water flows only for a short period of time after it rains. federal regulations have never before listed ditches and other man-made features as waters of the united states. this would be an alarming step and it would have a huge impact on farmers ranchers, families and small businesses all across america. people whose livelihood requires that they put a shovel in the ground would suddenly find it much more difficult to make a living

mr. barrasso: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming is recognized. mr. barrasso: thank you madam president. madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: thank you madam president. madam president, five years ago today, president obama signed his health care bill into law. since then, americans have watched their paychecks shrink because of the law. hardworking american taxpayers have paid billions of dollars in higher taxes because of the law. they have had less health care choice because of the law. so what does the president say about all of this? what does the president say to the millions of americans who have had to suffer, suffer through a long list of costly and appalling side effects of the president's health care law? well last week he gave a speech in cleveland and he said -- quote -- "it's working even better than i expected." he repeated the same thing this weekend, saying it's working even better than i expected. has the president not seen what's happened to

mr. barrasso: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: mr. president first let me congratulate my colleague from alaska, our colleague from alaska, who is the chairman of the energy committee and that is a committee in capable hands under her direction whether the arctic -- all energy. she's committed to affordable energy available energy, reliable energy, secure energy, american energy. so we are in good stead with the new chairman who has taken over in january and as members of that committee, it's a great opportunity for us to work with her to help with affordable energy for all of america. and we have opportunities for export and good to see her continued leadership on this and other topics. thank you mr. chairman. i ap -- i appreciate her hard work. mr. president, earlier today the united states supreme court heard arguments in an important case a consequential case. it is called king v. burwell. this case was brought on behalf of millions of americans who have real estate been harmed by the president's -- who've been harmed by the presi

mr. barrasso: thank you so much. i agree with my friend and colleague from kansas, i thank him for his leadership and his very thoughtful deliberations on this important matter. and, mr. president i'd like to talk for a moment to talk about this bill is that on the floor s. 178 the justice for victims of trafficking act as i have an amendment that i'm offering today, on human tracking in indian country. i will tell you that human trafficking is widespread in indian country, and we have to do everything we can to stop it. violent crime rates against women and girls in native american communities are far higher than the national averages. this amendment delivers help to trafficking survivors and gives tribes the resources that they need to battle human trafficking in their own back yards. i will tell you mr. president that this amendment has broad support and is a vital addition to the bill on the floor today. it would give tribes to access funding for especial training for local law enforcement in order to combat human

mr. parfitt: we don't believe we can be protected from lawsuits from third parties. as the proposal has been written. sen. barrasso: i am out of time. thank you very much. sen. fischer: thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for being here. commissioner easterly, when we had the acting administrator here earlier in the year, i asked her some questions about the heat rate efficiency assumption. we know epa relied on an analysis for that 6% heat rate. in their own terms, they said the epa misapplied the data in a cumulative manner, inconsisent with how the study was conducted. do you have any other concerns with how the epa developed that heat rate assumption? mr. easterly: part of their thought process for building block one assumed you would operate the plants in a way that gained efficiency. it means you have to operate them at a steady state output. you have building block two, coal plants are your last resort. you need to develop gas cycle plants first career there are also emission controls. -- plants. there are also emission controls for coal plants. they have good reasons to be there, but they decrease the effic

mr. parfitt: that is correct. the costs would be just to be did among the states involved with that system. sen. barrasso: california would have higher electric bills as a result of the epa mandate? mr. parfitt: there is a portion of northern california part of the system. sen. barrasso: a growing number of states are raising concerns any project will become federally enforceable. making a state vulnerable to sue and settle lawsuits. unlike most sue and settle arrangements, which deal with a single plant, a state's entire electricity system could become subject to environmental lawsuits. epa agrees with this concern. during question and answering in february, the acting chief says she sees potential for this. we have heard it from the texas public utilities commissioner as well. if there is time, i would like to ask a couple folks if you believe epa can promise some sort of protection?

mr. barrasso: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: next tuesday we will reach a deal with iran on the illicit nuclear program. that is the day the obama administration said it would have a framework for a final agreement with iran. so far it seems like the administration is willing to make a deal at any cost. america cannot afford that, and congress should not allow it. an overwhelming majority of americans believe that we should not accept a bad deal with the iranians. in one poll earlier this month 84% of americans said that it's a bad idea to accept the kinds of concessions that this administration seems to be making. the obama administration started negotiating with iran more than five years ago. it has mishandled these talks from the very beginning by conceding iran's right to enriched uranium. this deal was supposed to be about stopping iran's nuclear program. negotiators started off by insisting iran should have no more than 1,500 centrifuges to produce nuclear materials. that number has steadily grown during negotiati

mr. barrasso: thank you madam president. i yield the floor and suggest suggest. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: mr. coats: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from indiana. mr. coats: madam president i ask that the call of the quorum be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. coats: madam president last week i came to the floor to launch what i have called "waste of the week. requestings-- i'll put my prop up here. waste of the peek is designed to provide awareness in simple ways to our colleagues here how we can look at government spending that is really -- that really doesn't sphak stack up in terms of something that is needed. perhaps it was needed at one particular time or perhaps it is something that taxpayers shouldn't be paying for in the first place. i will like to raise awarps, and i'm going do that each week. this is my second week. and this evening i would like to present the second waste of the week. as you recall, madam chair wornlings i think you were in the c