mr. blumenthal: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: mr. president, i begin by calling attention of to a private iranian airline designated by the united states department of treasury for its support for terrorism and funn funneling of weapons to hezbollah and to the assad regime in syria. this airline continues to operate and even expand it's international business network, despite tough words from the administration. but this kind of tough language is insufficient. the time to impose sanctions on mahan air is now. the time to impose sanctions on mahan air is clearly now. and i have called on the administration in a letter that i helped to lead, joined by a number of my colleagues, in late february -- february 29 to the secretary of the treasury. and sanctions might be forthcoming against this airline if this body were to approve adam szubin to be under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, but so far we have failed to do so. his confirmation has been blocked. i regret it. whroarnts whether or not, he's , sanctions should be

mr. blumenthal: i'm pleased to be here today to speak again in support of the comprehensive addiction and recovery act which the senate will consider and i hope approve this week. it is a long overdue measure to address the public health hurricane, a crisis that we face in this country every bit as real and threatening as threats there abroad. in fact, i've come today just now from a hearing at the armed services committee where i had the opportunity to question some of our nation's leading military experts, including the head of our special operations command about the threat posed by illiss silt substances like heroin to -- illicit substances like heroin and the testimony was those substances when they come to this country follow the same route as terrorists and illicit arms and other military threats to this nation. the bipartisan support for the measure before us today is a sign of the meaningful strides that this nation has taken, but much more is necessary to be done toward ending the epidemic of heroin addiction and prescription drug abuse. it is a danger to every community across

mr. blumenthal: means critical decisions will be left undecided. i urge my colleagues to enable us to have a vote. may i have just one more minute? the presiding officer: is there objection. mr. leahy: i'd ask consent for three more minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. blumenthal: i want to close with the words of justice scalia who said, when he was asked to recuse himself, that leaving the court potentially equally divided 4-4, that a 4-4 vote was to be avoided, if possible. and he said -- quote -- "with eight justices raises the possibility that by reason of a tie vote, the court will find itself unable to resolve the significant legal issue presented by the case. even one unnecessary recusal impairs the functioning of the court." "even one unnecessary 4-4 vote impairs the stature and the credibility and the effectiveness of the court. i urge all of us to move forward with the president's nominee when it is made. thank you, madam president. mr. leahy: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: m

mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. i ask that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. early today i joined a number of my colleagues at the supreme court, outside the supreme court to work with advocates who were gathered there, thousands of people, including many, many young people, and looking into their faces, i realized that for them roe v. wade is history. but my mind went back to 1974, the year after roe v. wade, when i was a law clerk to justice blackmun. and i heard similar voices from the serene contemptlative chambers of justice blackmun and thought then -- in fact all of us thought then that roe v. wade would settle for all time, at least for the next decades, the reproductive rights of women in the united states of america. and we were wrong. we were wrong that the law would be settled, that rights would be protected, that roe would be accepted and that privacy would become enshrined as a matter of constitutional law, or at least accepte

mr. blumenthal: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: i ask the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, an important consumer right is under attack, under siege today in the united states senate. it's the right to know what is in your food. a lot of consumers take it for granted that they will read the ingredients on a weaj and they will know what's in their food. the right to know what you're putting in your body is a basic right, and especially what your children are putting in their bodies. i understand that the agriculture committee has reported and the majority leader has indicated that he will bring to the floor a misguided anticonsumer measure that will not only dilute but decimate an essential aspect of that right to know. it's not the name of the bill's proponents that they're using, but i agree with members of the house and this body who have called this bill the dark act. why? because it denies americans the right to know. unfortunatel

mr. varell? >> thank you, senator blumenthal. i'll align our comments and sentiments with those of the vso panel up here but i would also add the women veterans that we hear from, they routinely say they don't want better care, they want comparable care, and we do believe that the va is moving in the right direction but more can be done. >> and i'd just like to finish with the chairman's indulgence, i know mr. blake you said that the va's dollar amount for health care for fiscal '18 is lower than you would like to see, is that correct? >> that is correct. >> sorry, go ahead. >> no, sir, you. >> what is the number that you think it should be? >> the ib recommends for 2018 overall for medical care our recommendation is about $77 billion for medical services alone. it's about $64 billion. one of the things i would point out, though, just looking and this was a touchy subject even for our membership but looking at the community care account alone the va projects to spend $12.2 billion in '17 on all community care through choice and t

sidney blumenthal: thank you, mr. lincoln. >> as someone who likes to dress up like lincoln, that tells many to get on a treadmill or split a number of rails to get down to that weight. [laughter] >> i'm going to work on that. my question to you is as an advisor of presidents and in this time of the presidential campaign in which secret communications have become an issue, has there been any scholarship regarding the lincoln era, the wartime? i saw the lincoln movie in which he walked over to the telegraph department or department of war. obviously, there were secret communications happening. there was the story about the confederacy where there was a secret message wrapped around cigars that was mishandled. my question is, are there any lessons? i always think there are lessons in lincoln's life. are there any lessons in lincoln's history that can be carried over to this issue of communications and the need to have communications be private and confidential? sidney blumenthal: well, lincoln did not have e-mails. [lau

mr. chairman. >> senator sullivan, senator blumenthal. >> thank you, mr. chairman.verybody on this panel has provided very distinguished service to our country. thank you for that service and for you being here today. and all of you i know are familiar with the abuse of cramming, which is the unscrupulous practice of wireless carriers allowing third parties to add charges on monthly bills without authorization without even consent or knowledge sometimes of consumers. commissioner rosenworcel i want to thank you for your visits to connecticut, your native state in hartford to join me several times to discuss this abuse and to announce refunds that are going back to consumers as a result of the commission's good work. at the fcc hearing about a year ago i raised the mobile cramming issue and asked several of you if you would commit to an fcc rule making to apply the conditions to the whole market, which i think are very important to protecting consumers long after the consent decrees expire, the consent decrees are good, but all carriers should be required to protect

thank you for your fine work on behalf of our country. >> thank you, sir. >> senator blumenthal. >> thanks, mr. chairman. thank you, madam attorney general for excellent work you're doing and dedicated and energetic work on behalf of law enforcement over misdemeanor years. i want to ask about the freedom of access of clinic entrances act, so-called face act i was involved enforcing while attorney general in state of the connecticut. as you know it was passed in 1994 after particularly troubling time in our nation's history involving threats and attacks on clinics. it continues to serve a vital role in our nation. recently the decades long attack on the exercise of reproductive rights has taken the form of a serious of highly edited, deceptive and extremely inflammatory set of videos targeting planned parenthood. i wonder if you could tell me whether the fbi has noticed increase in the number of viiv lent incidents targeting abortion providers since the release of those videos beginning in july of 2015? >> so, senator, you certainly raise important issues and it is important enforcement area fo

blumenthal. i've heard many presentations on mrs. lincoln from friends and foes of this controversial first lady. love her or hate her, there's little doubt in any mind that abraham and mayry loved each other deeply and supported each other for better and worse, richer and poorer, sickness and in health. and that mary's support was an indispensable element. our next speaker knows more about this relationship than just about anybody. stacey pratt mcdermott is the author of last years's southern girl, northern woman. this compact volume traces the connell plex and often tragic life of mary lincoln in four stages. mayor vi todd, mrs. abraham lincoln, mrs. president lincoln and the widow lincoln. i encourage you to read the book. but if you want to get an instant presentation, let me draw your attention to her guest log on the civil war in pop culture. in it tracy drew a succinct portrait of mary lincoln. but dr. mcdermott's expertise extends far beyond mary. her undergraduate studies were followed by graduate studies. her ph.d. disserta

thank you for your fine work on behalf of our country. >> thank you, sir. >> senator blumenthal? >> thanks mr. chairman. thank you, madam attorney general, for the excellent work you've been doing and you are dedicated and energetic and your work on behalf of law enforcement over many years. i want to ask about the freedom of access to clinic entrances act, the so called face act which i was involved in involved with as attorney general in the state of connecticut. as you know it was passed in 1994 after a particularly troubling time in our nation's history involving threats and attacks on clinics. it continues to serve a vital role in our nation. recently the decades-long attack on the exercise of reproductive rights has taken the form of a series of highly edited deceptive and extremely inflammatory set of videos targeting planned parenthood. i wonder if you can tell me if the fbi has noticed an increase in the number of violent incidents targeting abortion providers since the release of those videos beginning in july of 2015? >> so senator, you certainly raise important issues and it's an

mrs. reagan there would've been no president reagan. i'm not a real fan of iunterfactual history conduct have expressed that same view regarding mary lincoln. is underscore this morning by sidney blumenthal. i have attended lots of events like this. i've heard many presentations on mrs. lincoln from friends and foes of this controversial first lady. love her or hate her. there is little doubt in my mind that they love each other deeply and supported each other for better or worse in sickness and in health. her support was an indispensable elements of his ambition. our next speaker knows more about this just about anybody. of this bookthor on mary lincoln. it traces the complex and often tragic life of mary lincoln. i encourage you to read the book. her guest blog on christian mcwhorter's blog about the civil dr. mcdermott's expertise the americaneyond legal system in the 19 century. her phd dissertation on juries in the antebellum midwest formed the basis of her 2012 book published by ohio university press, "the jury in lincoln's america." our colleague and friend rights mcdermott's careful study, based on extensive primary source research, sheds fresh light on the legal history the 19th

sidney blumenthal: thank you, mr. lincoln. >> as someone who likes to dress up like lincoln, that tells many to get on a treadmill or split a number of rails to get down to that weight. [laughter] >> i'm going to work on that. my question to you is as an advisor of presidents and in this time of the presidential campaign in which secret communications have become an issue, has there been any scholarship regarding the lincoln era, the wartime? i saw the lincoln movie in which he walked over to the telegraph department or department of war. obviously, there were secret communications happening. there was the story about the confederacy where there was a secret message wrapped around cigars that was mishandled. my question is, are there any lessons? i always think there are lessons in lincoln's life. are there any lessons in lincoln's history that can be carried over to this issue of communications and the need to have communications be private and confidential? sidney blumenthal: well, lincoln did not have e-mails. [lau

blumenthal. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you all for being here. respectfully suggest that the answer to the question should there be mandatory safety and obviously the answer is yes. i didn't hear that from all of the witnesses. i heard answers that basically implied "maybe there should be." but the clear need it seems to me, and for the sake of this technology, the answer should be yes, because that's the credibility and faith that you want to establish, is that your technology is meeting mandatory standards. let me ask mr. coupiss cummings nhtsa equipped to meet those standards in your view? >> no, they are not, in my opinion. >> in your opinion should this technology be implemented widely until there are such standards? >> no. i think that we need to address these issues before there is wide dissemination of the technology. >> do any of the other witnesses disagree? >> i would say, yes. i want to speak a little bit about privacy. because we talked somewhat about cyber security but from a privacy standpoint, it is very important. we operate only

blumenthal. i've attended lots of attendant -- events like this. i have heard many presentations on mrs. lincoln from friends and foes of this controversial first lady. but love her or hate her, there is little doubt that abraham lincoln, abraham and mary love each other deeply and support each other for better or for worse. and that mary's support was an indispensable element of abraham's ambitions. -- next speaker knows about more about this than just about anybody. stacy pratt mcdermott is the author of last year's mary lincoln, southern girl, northern woman. this compact volume traces the complex and often tragic life of mary lincoln in four stages. mary todd, mrs.. lincoln, mrs. president lincoln, and the widow lincoln. i encourage you to read the book. if you want to get an instant impression, let me draw your attention to her blog around the civil war and pop culture. teacher a resisting portrait of mary lincoln and give a strong thumbs up to sally field's portrayal of the president's wife in steven spielberg's "lincoln." harry -- her equities a sense far beyond very. expertise ex

senator blumenthal: i thank my good friend -- mr. blum: i thank my good friend, mr. desantis, for giving me an opportunity to speak on this most important subject. albert einstein once id the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over again yet expecting different rests. that quote sums up washington, d.c. we keep sending the same people back here over and over and over. yet, we expect things will improve. we expect things will change. congressional approval ratings, if you haven't checked, are in the single digits. it's clear that the american people aren't happy with the job we're doing. they want change in washington, d.c. but if we truly want to change washington, we need to heed albert einstein's advice. we need to send different people here. we need to do things differently. changing the way congress operates should start with enacting term limits. i firmly believe congressional the limits would restore public's confidencen the legislative branch and return this body back to the design intended by our founding fathers. i've just be he

blumenthal's call. she did not take the call from the people. she was sleeping. >> do you think there was anything she did as secretary that was good? mr.rump: she did a lot of traveling. i think she worked hard. she was always on airplanes. going back and forth. she lied and said that she was attack and she came under attack. she was landing someplace. it turned out to be a total fraud. we hear from his most formidable opponent, ted cruz on why he thinks he can stop the donald next. ♪ >> eu are now the candidate of mitt romney and jeb bush. how did that happen? we have been endorsed by jeb bush, mitt romney, mike lee, mark live in. that is about as broad a spectrum as you can get. the reason is simple. 65% to 70% of republicans have recognized donald trump is not the candidate to go up against hillary clinton. what we are seeing as republicans coming together, that is what it is going to take to be donald for the nomination and hillary in november. >> some people are less interested in voting for you as using you as a vehicle to stop donald trump. object here is to win. if we keep going, we have had seven years under obama. seven years

blumenthal. i've attended lots of attendant -- events like this. i have heard many presentations on mrs. lincoln from friends and foes of this controversial first lady. but love her or hate her, there is little doubt that abraham lincoln, abraham and mary love each other deeply and support each other for better or for worse. and that mary's support was an indispensable element of abraham's ambitions. -- next speaker knows about more about this than just about anybody. stacy pratt mcdermott is the author of last year's mary lincoln, southern girl, northern woman. this compact volume traces the complex and often tragic life of mary lincoln in four stages. mary todd, mrs.. lincoln, mrs. president lincoln, and the widow lincoln. i encourage you to read the book. if you want to get an instant impression, let me draw your attention to her blog around the civil war and pop culture. teacher a resisting portrait of mary lincoln and give a strong thumbs up to sally field's portrayal of the president's wife in steven spielberg's "lincoln." harry -- her equities a sense far beyond very. expertise ex

blumenthal. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and thank you all for being here. may i respectfully suggest that the answer to the question, should they be mandatory safety and privacy standards is yes. and i didn't hear that. from all the witness. i heard answers that basically implied maybe, they should be, but the clear need it seems to me and for the sake of this technology, the answer should be just because that's the credibility you want to establish is that your tech knowledge he is meeting mandatory standards. -- your technology. is nhtsa equipped right now to establish the standards in your get? >> no, ma they are not come in my opinion. >> should this technology be implemented widely until the are such standards? >> no. i think we need to address these issues before there is wide dissemination of the technology. >> do any of the other witnesses disagree? >> i would say yes, i want to speak up about privacy because we talk so much about cybersecurity, but from a privacy standpoint gm is very clear. privacy is very important we operate only with an opt in

mr. president, earlier this week, i joined a bipartisan group of senate colleagues -- senator graham, senator ayotte and senator blumenthal -- republicans and democrats alike, to send a letter to the united states department of treasury. in our letter, we urged secretary jack lew to continue the obama administration's necessary and vital efforts to crack down on mohan air, a private iranian airline, that provides support for iran's terrorist proxies and funnels weapons to hezbollah and the murderous assad regime in syria. mohan air is only the latest example of a pattern of behavior we've come to expect from iran, supporting terrorism and conducting destabilizing activities in the middle east, conducting illegal ballistic missile tests in violation of u.n. security council resolution 1929, and committing ongoing major human rights violations. indeed, as we wrote in the lette secretary, quote, strong and swift sanctions is vital to hold iran to account for its ongoing support of terrorism, ballistic missile development and human rights violations. today i'd like to dive further into mahan air's activities and explain why i