mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. ms. blunt rochester. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mrs. britt. mr. budd. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. curtis. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mr. gallego. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mr. husted. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. justice. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. kim. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. mccormick. mr. merkley. mrs. moody. mr. moran. mr. moreno. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. & mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schiff. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. mr. sheehy. ms. slotkin. ms. smith. mr. sullivan. mr. thune. m

mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. ms. blunt rochester. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mrs. britt. mr. budd. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. the chance to have a spirited conversation. the budget committee reported out senate concurrent resolution seven, that will allow the reconciliation process, the spending of money and the reduction of spending based on different committees. this resolution allows for 175 billion immigration policy enhancements does not spend the many penny after words and by billionmr dollars what will hapn those two committees work with the trump administration to meet their priorities. there is nothing in this resolution directing one dime of spending. note spending bill can be implemented without presidential signature. i want to make sure that is clear. one of $50 billion in increased defense spending. quiet? we have a lot of threats since the withdrawal of afghanistan radical

mr. bennet, no. mr. warner, no. mr. whitehouse, no. ms. hassan, no. ms. cortez masto, no. ms. warren, no. mr. sanders, no. ms. smith, no. mr. lujan, no. mr. warnock, no. mr. chairman? the chairman votes aye. the final tally is 14 ayes, 13 nays. chair crapo: with the click please restate the vo--with the clerk restate the vote? >> 14 ayes, 13 nays. chair crapo: the vote is reported favorably. since i asked my republican colleagues to hold off at the outset, i will go to my republican colleague first. senator tillis. sen. tillis: i voted aye today and i wanted to briefly explain why. i believe in my 65 years -- i will be 65 in august -- that mr. kennedy will be one of the first people coming before who is not a trained health care expert. he views this through the lens of an attorney. he's brought many lawsuits on food safety, vaccine safety, a number of other things. mr. chair, i think it was senator warnock that said that the president said he was going to go wild in the department of health and human services. i hope he does. i hope he goes wild and finds a way to reduce the

mr. bennet, no. the clerk: mr. young, aye. let me begin by thanking my girls elle and ported or now returning to scene of congressional confirmation hearings as veterans. their love and support and enthusiasm for me serving again is a major reason why i feel that going back to it is the right endeavor at the right moment. beyond my enthusiasm for being at president trump's side, it is a profound honor to be nominate a second time by president trump to serve as the director of the office of management and budget. the president has promised american people a federal government that works for all americans, not the interest of bureaucrats and entrenched establishment making it start into filling that vital promise during my previous time at omb both deputy director and director was among most rewarding career experiences of my career. throughout that time i've been driven by commitment to taxpayers and their families. growing up as the son of an electrician and school teacher i saw first hand sacrifices my parents made to balance

mr. bennet, mr. bennet, no. mr. warner, no. mr. warner, no. mr. whitehouse, mr. whitehouse, no.s hassan, miss. hassan, no. >> miss cortez masto. >> miss cortez masto. >> no. >> miss warren, no. >> miss warren, no. >> mr. sanders, mr. sanders, no. >> miss smith, no. >> miss smith, no. >> mr. lujan, no. mr. lujan, no. >> mr. warnock, no. >> mr. warnock, no. >> mr. welch, mr. >> welch, no. >> mr. chairman, >> chairman. votes i. >> mr. chairman the final tally. >> is 14 ayes. >> 13 ayes. >> the vote. >> was. would the clerk please restate the vote. >> mr. chairman. >> the final tally was 14 ayes. >> 13 ayes. >> the vote was 1413. the nomination is reported favorably. we will now turn to other senators who would like to make a statement. since i asked my republican colleagues to hold off at the outset, i'll go to the republican side next. first, senator tillis. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i voted i. >> today. >> and i want. >> to just briefly. >> explain why. >> i believe. >> in my. >> 65 years. >> okay. you just watched 14 ayes, 13 noes, party line vote there to advance robert f ken

mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mrs. blackburn. it encourages oil and gas companies to take better care of what they leak out of pipes and valves. it's pretty straightforward stuff. it's coming to a neighborhood near you. let's get together to stop it now. i urge an aye vote. >> senator lee. >> mr. chairman, this -- this amendment would strike ep instruction rather repealing a costly and harmful nursing home rule, so if we were to adon't it would impair our ability to the offset bill and i opposite it and urge my colleagues to do the same. >> we will vote on this in a bit. >> my amendment creates point of order. provides new budget authority for the office of the president during any period when there's litigation pending against the president alleging violation of take care clause. carrying out all of congress' statutory directions. the law that congress passes are not optional in the constitution and do not give the president any legislative power. he can't choose to follow the laws he likes and disregard the ones he dislikes. th

mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. the clerk: mr. blumenthal. ms. blunt rochester. mr. booker. mr. boozman.. britt. mr. budd. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. curtis. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mr. gallego. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mr. husted. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. justice. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. kim. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. the clerk: ms. lummis. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. mccormick. mr. merkley. mrs. moody. mr. moran. mr. moreno. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schiff. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. mr. sheehy. ms. slotkin. ms. smi

mr. bennet, no. the clerk: mr. peters, no. the clerk: mr. tillis, aye. the clerk: mr. johnson, aye. the clerk: mr. budd, aye. the clerk: mr. lee, aye. mr. schumer, no. ms. slotkin, no. ms. duckworth, no. mr. graham, aye. the clerk: mr. young, aye. ms. collins, no. vote: the clerk: mr. risch, aye. the clerk: mr. warner, no. the clerk: markey, no. . the clerk: mr. whitehouse, no. mrs. moody, aye. mr. king, no. mr. lankford, aye. mr. heinrich, no. mr. cornyn, aye. mrs. britt, aye. mrs. capito, aye. the clerk: mr. moreno, aye. ms. ernst, aye. the clerk: ms. smith, no. the clerk: ms. cortez masto, no. mr. grassley, aye. the clerk: mr. smyth, aye. the clerk: mr. husted, aye. mr. ossoff, no. the clerk: mr. scott of south carolina, aye. mr. padilla, no. the clerk: mr. schiff, no. mr. ricketts, aye. ms. hirono, no. the clerk: mrs. shaheen, no. the clerk: mr. kennedy, aye. mr. coons, no. mr. murphy, no. the clerk: mr. durbin, no. the clerk: mr. sullivan, aye. ms. murkowski, aye. the clerk: mr. welch, no. the clerk: ms. lummis, aye. the clerk: mr. cassidy, aye. mr. hickenlooper, no. the clerk:

mr. bennet: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. bennet: thank you, mr. president. i'm grateful to be on the floor here tonight with my colleague from california, senator schiff, and others to talk about the nomination of tulsi gabbard now, the successful confirmation of tulsi gabbard to be the director of national intelligence. to say the least, i never thought that we would see a moment in the history of the united states, the history of our attempt as a congress to -- to ensure that the american people and that the president gets the intelligence they need in all these years, over all these decades, i never imagined we with would see somebody like tulsi gabbard approved on the floor of the united states senate for that job. and i wanted to get -- to speak tonight just briefly to say why i thought that was the wrong direction for the trump administration, more importantly, the wrong direction for the american people. let me say first of all, intelligence and be

mr. bennet: mr. president. the presiding officer: the chair recognizes the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: thank you. thank you, mr. president. i appreciate the opportunity to speak. i returned from ukraine earlier this week where i saw both the suffering that the ukrainian people have endured over the past three years at putin's hand and the courage they have forged to save their country and their children. the suburban town of bucha where russian troops tortured and massacred hundreds of civilians in the first day of putin's unprovoked invasion. the shattered children's hospital putin's missiles nearly destroyed, the apartment buildings in central kyiv struck by putin's drones and lawyers accepting for the thousands of ukrainian children who have been kidnapped from their parents by russian soldiers. by most statement estimates, at -- by most estimates, at least 40,000 ukrainian troops have been killed in battle and another 308,000 have been -- 380,000 have been wounded. the population in that country means that war has scarred nearly ever neighborhood. in cemeteries all across uk

mr. bennet. >> thank you, mr. chairman, ranking member, members of the esteemed committee for the opportunity to appear before you today. let me begin by thanking my girls who are now returning to the congressional confirmation. their love and enthusiasm for me serving again is a major reason why i feel going back to own be as of right endeavor at the right moment. beyond my enthusiasm for being at president trump side. it is a profound honor to be nominated a second time by president trump to serve as the director of the office of management and budget. the president has promised the american people i federal government that works for all americans, not the interests of bureaucrats and entrenched establishment. making historic elephant that vital promise during my previous time at omb is both deputy director and director was among the most rewarding career experiences of my career. throughout that time i've been driven by a commitment to taxpayers and their families. growing up as a set of electrician and a schoo

mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. ms. blunt rochester. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mrs. britt. mr. budd. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. curtis. mr. curtis. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. my extraordinary sister is here as well as addison's brother rick and my sister-in-law abbey and my closest friends come down to support me. my father is a professor of american history. taught me how to appreciate life. when i was 14, she was diagnosed with terminal cancer she decided when you die before then, was going to live. she pulled me class so i rushed and said, are you okay? is okay, let's go. drove to new york city we went to the opera and a late night dinner, super late and get to on time. my mother died in february of 1978 when i was 16 years old. a year end a half later, my father was diagnosed with lung cancer. he wanted to make sure i left to start college in the fall. drop me off at school and a week later therapy treatment at a local hospital and the nurse ga

mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. ms. blunt rochester. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mrs. britt. mr. budd. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. curtis. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mr. gallego. mrs. gillibrand. mrs. gillibrand. i'm honored to be sitting here to be nominated for the next sector of the v.a. i want to think my friend kevin cramer for the kind introduction. i appreciate his work and your work as well. i thank him for that. i would like to thank president trump for his nomination and his willingness to have not on the veterans of this country. i'm privileged today and appreciate the chairman and ring them mentioning my family because i would not view without them. my wife of 36 years is with me lisa. i have my son copeland, his wife your guide my son cameron and his fiancÉe. and then on the one of the quizzes altogether and that is jordan. she is our daughter. also on the public is watching what no of the list of a

mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. ms. blunt rochester. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mrs. britt.. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. curtis. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. the clerk: mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mr. gallego. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mr. husted. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. justice. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. kim. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. ms. klobuchar. serving america's small businesses, no stronger advocate than our president. actually our commitment if confirmed i will work tirelessly to make small business again. i want to thank my wonderful husband jeff and my wonderful friends who have joined us here today most importantly i gave all thanks and glory to god. as someone who has meant my life working in small businesses, starting them, growing them and helping them succeed, i know that small business is big busine

mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. ms. blunt rochester. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mrs. britt. mr. budd. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cassidy. have a sufficient number to the start and since this is going to take a while i think we should start it today. do we have enough? we have two items on our agenda kash patel's nomination to serve as director of the fbi and s. 331, the fentanyl act. because the whole fentanyl act is listed on the agenda for the first time it will be held over until our next meeting. last week committee democrats exercised their right under the committee rules to hold patel's nomination for seven days. obviously we had to honor that hold from last week so today is the day that we hold on this nominee. we all know that mr. patel like other nominees undergo rigorous vetting. he's no exception. before his hearing he more than 1000 pages of records, disclosed over 1000 interviews. he underwent an fbi background investigation, a financial disclosure and works with ethics officials to identify and resolve potential conflicts of interest. at his hea

mr. bennet: mr. president. the presiding officer: i recognize the senator from colorado. mr. nnet: thank you, i was here to talk about the cuts to the forest service in colorado. but i want to add just a couple of thoughts. i appreciate so much what they were saying because the american people are struggling, and it's not just with inflation, it's with an economy that for 50 years that that is worked incredibly well for the wealthy and hasn't worked for anybody else. it used to be the american dream. that's how we knew when our country was working, when you worked hard and you could get ahead. when you worked hard, you are knew your kids were going to get ahead. and we're at a moment in american history for the first time when our kids, people that are 30 years old, are going to earn -- half of them are going to earn less than their parents are. and people all over the country are looking at it and saying, that's not the america that i recognize. that's not the american dream. and it's not the american dream. today in the united states, mr. president, the top one percent of pe

mr. bennet. >> thank you, mr. chairman ranking member warren and the committee. i'm so happy and honored to be here with you all today. i think all of the members of the committee. thanks for your thoughtfulness. thank you for your engagement and fear ideas on rebuilding the american dream of our nation's forgotten communities. it's a pleasure to visit with each and every one of you. and that was just a scheduling conflict. i'm so grateful to that time to meet with you. thank you for making that effort i hope our conversations will not be the end, but only the beginning of a great and true partnership to meet that mission and serve the american people i like to take a moment to thank my wife robin who is here with us for her unwavering support of over nearly three decades of being together at the college at the university of illinois, the nfl, that whitehouse, business, ministry and family foundation. robin has been a true partner and building god's kingdom and doing the work he's called us to do together. so robin, thank you for your support the friends and fami

mr. kennedy: i probably did say that. that is -- sen. bennet: i want all of our colleagues to hear it, mr. kennedy. you said yes. did you say that exposure to pesticides causes children to become transgender? mr. kennedy: i never said that. sen. bennet: i have the record that i will give to the chairman and he can make his judgment about what you said. did you write in your book and it is undeniable that african aids is an entirely different disease from western aids? yes or no? mr. kennedy: i'm not sure. sen. bennet: i will give it to the chairman. and my final question, did you say on a podcast, and i quote, " i wouldn't leave abortion to the states. my belief is we should leave it to the woman. we shouldn't have the government involved, even if it is full-term." did you say that? mr. kennedy: senator i believe every abortion is a tragedy -- sen. bennet: did you say it, mr. kennedy? it doesn't matter what you come here and say that isn't true, that is not reflective of what you really believe. that you haven't said over decade after decade af

mr. bennet: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: thank you, mr. president. i would like to take the time to welcome the president to the u.s. senate. i haven't had a chance to do that as you sit in the chair. we're now going to get somebody else but thank you for being here. and i also want to thank my colleague from the commonwealth of virginia, senator kaine, for his heartfelt remarks. you know, it is -- i think we are through the looking glass in many ways, and there's a pattern here that is reflected in what you are talking about, this idea of being able to tell the difference between fact and fiction. fact and fiction. i know that when you were the mayor of richmond, it probably was pretty important for people that were working with you to know the difference between fact and fiction. when you're the governor of the commonwealth of virginia, probably was pretty important for you to do that as well. and it does seem like in president trump's administration, he wants to -- he's really at war with the facts. and trying to muddle what is fact and

bennet. >> i'm asking you yes or no, mr.nedy, did you say that covid-19 was a genetically engineered bioweapon that targets black and white people but spares ashkenazi and chinese people? >> i didn't say it was deliberately targeted. i just quoted an nih-funded and nih-published study -- >> stephen: about that study, "the washington post" fact-checked it and said the study and reference did not state those conclusions. well, to quote shakespeare, you can't just say you are quoting someone and then make up whatever you want, you numb nuts! but -- beautiful. [applause] you can't just quote somebody and -- the highlight of the hearing was one senator bernie sanders confronted kennedy about a group that kennedy founded, which sells anti-vax merch. >> you have started a group called the children's health defense. you are the originator. right now as i understand it on their website there selling what's called onesies. these are little things, clothing for babies. >> stephen: it's a onesie, not to be confused with a burp cloth, wh

bennet: thank you for your generosity, mr. chairman. thank you again for hanging in there for this discussion, colonel gabbard. the house intelligence committee review of the snowden disclosures found not only that he was a traitor but that since snowden's arrival in moscow, he has had and continues to have contact with russian intelligence services. you can see the deep concern on both sides of the aisle here. you had in your opening statement all kinds of complaints about former officials, intelligence agencies, united states press, journalists, media, democrats. suggested you were not being treated fairly when you are coming here. no condemnation at all for this comment which leads me to wonder why it is so hard for you to say edward snowden was a traitor to our country and the question i guess i have for you is, how if you can't say that, you feel that the concerns that this committee has -- that we need somebody here who will actually honor their oath as you said. maybe i should make it easier. edward snowden did not honor his oath

bennet: thank you. chair crapo: senator cornyn. sen. cornyn: congratulations on your nomination. during the clinton administration china was admitted to the w seo -- the wto? mr. greer: president bush signed the paper. sen. cornyn: the premise was china would become part of the rules-based international order. china cheats. china steals our ip. they don't recognize our rules-based international order. off the top of your head, what sort of tariffs china imposes on imports? mr. greer: tariff rates, their overall applied tariff rate on average is 7.5%, on ag products, this does not capture the full extent of the nontraded barriers and regulatory they impose on our exports. sen. cornyn: they subsidize government owned enterprises? mr. greer: exactly. it makes it difficult for anyone else to compete and results in an enormous overcapacity that floods markets. it has been a huge factor in the de-industrialization of the u.s., which we need to reverse. sen. cornyn: president trump first raised this issue in a dramatic way, exactly right to insist upon reciprocity as principal. do you agree reciprocity ought to be the basic that drives trade policy? mr. greer: i kno